10 Second Warning
by MirrorKisses
Summary: In University, it's better if you didn't love more than one person at any given moment. Spinoff of Broken Paint Brushes and the rest of the Trilogy
1. Chapter 1

**Title: 10 Second Rule **

**Summary: University….oh what a joy.**

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It's cold outside , Michael can't help but moan out, sitting up inside the bed and realizing that the heat was shut off for the third time this month because Adrian wouldn't pay the bills. The apartment reeks of cigarettes and sex, not that he minds , but the hang over that he's suffering from doesn't help him as he tries to get out of bed without passing out from the pain. He squints a little and before spying Trent staring at him in amusement and slapping him on the cheeks. Snorts out," You've been out for like a day, Mikey. What did you drink?"

"God-" He starts, sitting up fully and holding his head," More like what didn't I drink" His vision is blurry and barely in focus when he suddenly covers his mouth before promptly throwing up. Trent makes a face and removes his hand from his face before rubbing it through his hair quickly and saying, " I'll go get a towel…and a bucket." Before his presences disappears from the room. Michael closes his eyes and tries to control his breathing- not to mention throwing up- when his other room mate yawns, t shirt rising as he stretches showing his perfect stomach and smirks at him, " Someone got trashed yesterday"

"Hey, fuck yo-" Michael tries to get it out, but ends up throwing up a bit more. Today is not his day, he decides as he groans out more and his other room mate bursts into laughter. He weakly sticks his middle finger up at him and wipes his eyes when he hears his first room mate talking. " Adrian, leave him alone. He's had a long two days"

"Please, Trent" The room mate, Adrian, sighs out - with the perfect stomach- and then turns back to look at Michael. " No one told little Mikey to go and party all night long. Now did we?" He makes another quick smirk in his direction before shuffling into the bathroom. Trent drops down next to Michael and hands him a towel. "Sorry, here" He presses the basket up against him and sighs tiredly. " Maybe you shouldn't go to class today"

Michael thinks about this for a while. He'd love to miss a day at Uni, but with his grades he doesn't think that he can afford it. " Do you have any aspirin?" He rasps out and Trent searches through his pocket - pulling out 3 Trojan Mans , a lolly pop, a pack of cigarettes and a sticker of a sun before finding it- hands a bottle of aspirin to Michael. Who really needs it at the moment.

Adrian comes out the bathroom, tooth brush in his mouth swirling around and shirt half buttoned, still amused. " I told you we shouldn't have taken him partying with us. He can't handle it yet"

"He's only a year younger" Trent frowns at his brother, taking up for Michael. " Besides, I remember the first time you got trashed like that"

"I was 13" Adrian drawls out and Michael can't help but laugh. Points out that Adrian buttoned his shirt wrong and proceeds to throw up again.

Michael loved University

* * *

Jake stuck his legs on top of the teacher's desk and smiled out leisurely, " Why did you ask me to stay after class?"

"Jake…you're behavior is not acceptable here" The teacher sighs out, running a hand through his hair. " It'- it's distracting to be honest"

"Oh really…?" Jake sits on the desk now, crossing his legs and smiling innocently. He looked a hot mess - black eyeliner rimmed around his eyes, and hair sloppy and shaggy, just the way he liked it. Tight school pants that left little to the imagination and a button down white shirt that just yelled for it to be ripped right off of him. " I didn't know I was distracting you professor….Dylan, can I call you by your first name?"

Dylan shook his head," No, you may not. Jake, you are a good student, you have such pro- promise to fail like this." Dylan stutters at the last part and stands up, clearing his throat. The class room door is closed. Jake simply smiles at him. " I'm sorry, professor." Jake sighs out, un crossing his legs and leaning forwards," It's just that sometimes it's so hard…." He pauses for a minute and Dylan raises his eyebrows at the kid's bluntness before he continues," For me. To concentrate. I'm sure you understand what I'm saying, sir. Maybe I need tutoring lessons of some sort. I don't want to fail, be a disappointment to my parents. They already hate me as is"

"I suppose that can be arranged" Dylan nods and they sit there in silence for a few minutes before Dylan wheezes out, "Fuck it" And Jake grabs him by his tie onto the desk, face first and capturing his lips into a sensational and smoldering kiss. " I was wondering-" Jake gasps out, kissing his lips and unbutton his collar," - how long you were going to tease me"

Dylan fumbles with his tie for a while, trying to get it off and smirks a little," I wanted to have a little fun-" He finally un does it and throws it onto the chair, climbing into Jake's lap and sucking on his bottom lip, hair beginning to stick to his forehead due to the sweat, " Had to wait 3 classes for you"

"I'll make it worth your while" Jake smiles against his mouth, hands traveling down to his fly when the door creaks open and a shy voice whimpers out," Professor Michaelchuck….I need help". Jake and Dylan stop in mid motion, and the boy's eyes become wide with shock before he blushes," I'm so sorry- I did- I didn't know. Oh god, I should go now right? I think I will…wow….ehm….okay…hi Jake" He flushes and then turns around and scurries off down the hall way.

"Hi Alex" Jake sighs and then looks at Dylan, who is suddenly pale. " He won't tell, will he?"

"Nope" Jake slides off the desk however, and shuts the door again, this time locking it. " Where were we?"

Dylan opens his mouth when his cell phone rings.

Jake loved University

* * *

Marco sits inside the dorm room quietly, wiping the tears from his eyes every now and then and sniffling. His clothes are soaking wet and his skin is pale as the phone rings. Finally Dylan picks up. " Hello?"

"Hey babe, what are you doing?" Marco sniffles a little into the phone and Dylan breaths out on the other line," Working hard, as usual. And you?"

"Waiting for my new room mate" Marco shrugs and there's a little shuddery gasp in the background," What happened? Did you hurt yourself?"

"Oh yeahhh…..Ahem, I mean….owww oww yea, something like that" Dylan seethes into the phone and gasps out "Fuck" quickly. " F- fucking pencil drawer closed on my hand!" In the background you hear the drawer slam shut another 3 times in a rhythm over and over again and Marco looks confused as he is depressed," Oh, I'll kiss your hand when you get off work then…okay?"

"Yeah….sure" Dylan murmurs," I have to go- goooo…class is waiting" And hangs up.

Marco sinks back into the bed even more and bursts into tears again when someone knocks on the door. Getting up and clutching his bloodied t-shirt he blinks at the person on the other side of the door and cocks his head to the side. " Are you my new room mate?"

"Yes, I think so" They look adorably confused. But still come inside the dorm and look around before meeting Marco's weak gaze. " You are Marco, right?"

"Yes…" Marco nods shyly, covering his shirt up and blushing. The boy puts his bag down on the floor and sits on the couch, sighing and closing his eyes. " I'm Ryan"

"Nice to meet you" Marco murmurs out and Ryan smiles," I hope you don't mind if I take quick nap here…It's been a long day for me."

"Oh no, not at all. Do you want me to get you a cover or anything?" Marco asks, sitting on the couch as well and biting his lips nervously.

"No, I'm fine" As the boy's eyes fluttered close he whispers, " You know, the best way to get blood stains out is with ice and bleach"

Marco hates University.

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**Yes, so the first chapter is short, but I'm just warming up the characters. Yeah so erm, review. An I know OMGWTF JAKE AND DYLAN believe it**


	2. Tired, Bored and Lethargic

**Okay, my mouse is out so I don't know when I'll be able to update more often, which sucks ass, but I'm working on it. However, her's the next chapter and I hope you all like it. I'm just really upset that I haven't been able to reply to you all yet. Damn me. LOVE YOU ALL LIKE CRACK**

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**Chapter 2:Tired, Bored and Lethargic  
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" I don't think you should be doing that" Alex whispers out gently, fiddling his glasses on the tip of his nose while peering over a hefty text book on the couch. Jake stumbled in through the door, hot and bothered, smiling carelessly. " I mean, what if you get caught?" His eyes are moist with unshed tears and Jake just looks plain turned off.

"Alex, does it look like I could give a fuck if they suspended me for some casual escapades? You know I'm better than that" Jake shrugged out, sitting down on the couch leg next to Alex and shrugging," Plus, I like it. I'm not good at a lot of things, but I'm with that"

"A whore" Alex murmured and Jake feigns pain," Ouch, Lex"

"Look…Jake, do whatever" Alex sighs out in defeat and slides his glasses back up. Jake pouts before sliding off the arm of the couch and into his lap," I think someone is just a little jealous" He tweaked his nose playfully and Alex slapped him away in agitation, " Stop it"

"I think someone just needs a little love" Jake coos out now, slipping a hand up Alex's shirt and smiling at him lazily while placing a kiss under his bottom lip," You really need to loosen up, Lex. All this studying is no good for you…let's do something a little more fun" Jake reached up and took off Alex's glasses before straddling his waist completely and placing kisses up and down his jaw line. Alex relaxed, if only a little bit before frowning," Stop Jake, I'm not in the mood"

"Yes you are" Jake kissed him on the lips this time, long and leisurely, " You're so uptight"

"Jake-"

"Alexander" Jake said forcedly, placing a hand on his shoulder to steady himself and running long fingers through his hair," I will get you to enjoy life even if it kills me. Now either you make out with me and loosen up or I'll be forced to pin you down and perform hot sexual favors on you"

Even though he could hear the amusement in Jake's voice he could tell that he was not joking, so he closed his eyes and kissed Jake again, passionately, the way he normally would when no one else was around. He often loved the way Jake would taste, full of sweat and sin, sometimes cigarettes and vodka, but always something exotic and reckless. He loved the way that Jake would grip his body in need when he was lonely at night and how often he would sneak kisses and hold hands when no one was looking. He loved the affection, and anything else he could get from Jake. So he wasn't surprised when Jake pulled back breathily and demanded," Bedroom" because in his mind he was already gripping the covers and tossing his head back in ecstasy.

* * *

" I moved here last year" Ryan sighed out, folding his blanket. Marco tittered on his two feet in the corner, watching him warily. " It was actually a sort of breath taking experience, getting off the plane and all. Especially since I've never been on a plane before and don't want to go again. I had stopped at the museum before I got here, I love all the displays that it had, but there was this one picture, this master piece that was so….so amazing, that stayed in my mind"

"What was it called?"

" Ahem…." Ryan bit his lip before snapping his fingers, "My Fair Fantasy"  
"Oh, a classic" He pushed himself up against the wall and closed his eyes, recollecting the information, " If I remember the correctly the creator drew it for his boyfriend after his son had died. However, that wasn't the original one, there was one before, and a poem to it as well, but no one has been able to find it. There has been a lot of contemplation over the picture, many claiming that it is indeed the creator himself with one of his many lovers but before the artist died he claimed that it was actually two other people in his life….what did he call it? Oh yes, the Suicidal Romeo and Juliet. Incept it was two boys"

"Interesting….can I ask how you know?"

"Simple" Marco shrugged, getting off of the wall and crossing over to his side of the bed, tucking in the frayed corner's edge," I like to read. My boyfriend is a professor at the College actually, so he always brings me the books from the lectures he is giving at the current moment to me. Sometimes I worry that the age difference will mess up our relationship; you know, with me being 19 and him being 25...but anyway, the book…the books I mean, they uh… It-- it uh, keeps me calm"

"That's Lovely" Ryan says and eyes Marco for a minute before sitting on the edge of his bed and looking around dully at the dorm room. " Marco, can I ask you a question now?"

"Su- sure, I guess"

"Do you consider life a waste? Because I look at you now, and to me you are nothing but a suicide waiting to happen"

Marco stays silent and sits down next to him on the bed," I am?"

"Yeah" Ryan doesn't look uncomfortable or shocked. He doesn't look much of anything at the moment. Just a little bored to be honest. Marco wrings his hands around his wrist and smiles uneasily at Ryan before breathing out," I'm glad someone finally noticed"

"I know" Ryan pats Marco's legs gently and gets up to finish unpacking his suitcase. Marco falls backwards onto Ryan's bed and listens some more about the other paintings he sees, commenting on their history every now and then. There's something odd about Ryan. And Marco loves it.

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"Easy now…." Adrian murmurs, his breath hot against Michael's ear as he places him down on the couch. Trent, who was inside the kitchen studying with a scarf on jumped up when he saw how Michael looked. " What happened?"

"Nothing….mmm….I dunno….like I was with Adrian and um Adrian and I were out at this club or something and he was dancing with me and we were danciccccciing together….and it was really nice. And then pffff-" Michael slurred out, popping himself on the head," I slipped and fell…and then I got this nasty bump on m'head. See?" He pointed to his head, head lolling from side to side and eyes glazed.

Trent rolled his eyes. Michael was drunk. "What really happened?"

"Actually, he's telling the truth. We were out. He slipped and fell on his glass shot that he had dropped on the floor while dancing. Hit his head on a stool." Adrian didn't look amused with Michael's actions though, and slapped him on the back," I'm sure he'll be fine"

Michael groaned again and Trent frowned," Don't you think that little Michael has been getting drunk a little too often?"

"Obviously" Adrian drawled out, wrapping an arm around his brother and leaving the room," This is why we're cutting him off. No drinks, no anything. Got it?"

"Sure" Trent waved a hand casually," Not a problem for me. He's your boyfriend"

Michael gurgles out and glances up in time to see Trent duck a chair flying past him.

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Alex's blurry eyes barely focused back as Jake sighed out, puffing cigarette smoke into the air, one leg hooked at an odd angle over the edge of the bed and the other leg strew haphazardly across Alex's stomach. "Lovely" He breathed out and Alex just nodded, sweat dampened hair matted to his fore head and limbs still tingling. He was amazed Jake was able to have his body at such an odd angle at the moment, but Jake was just an amazing boy. " Don't you feel better Lex?" Jake purred, extending his long elegant fingers while still grasping his cigarette," Now that I got all the kinks out"

Alex let the pun go and inhaled slowly," Yeah…." He did feel better to be honest, but he wasn't going to let Jake know that. Because then he'd never hear the end of it. So instead he sat up slowly, skin sticking to the covers due to the sudden humidity in the room, and squinted, looking for his glasses.

"Here" Jake murmured, leaning forwards. Alex felt a cool pair of steel slide past his ears before his vision became clear again.. He smiled at him warmly, and felt a little turned off right there, due to the fact that Jake always had that smile on his face for everyone. He often grew tired of Jake's clichéd slurs and jokes, random bursts of affection and unwanted kisses. But he just always knew how to say the right thing at the wrong time. He was about to ask Jake a question when a snort came from the doorway. They both looked up at the same time.

"Let's see, messy bed hair and askew clothing. Someone was having a little fun" They hung their arm over the doorway, jeans looped around their waist and button down t shirt half way buttoned. Their hair was smoothed down around their face, showing off their naturally stunning blue eyes and dark midnight hair. They smiled sickly and Alex hated the fact that everybody in Jake's family was so damn beautiful.

"Shut up, Rory" Jake drawled out, his foot tickling Alex's stomach." We were having a little fun"

"I know" Rory smiled," Hell, the whole first floor knows"

Alex flushed at this remark and hid himself under the covers. Rory often said things that he shouldn't say, much like his brother, but the only difference is that he doesn't really care if you get hurt in the process. Plus, he always has a lesson to teach. " I'm glad" Jake spat back and stuck out his tongue," Don't you have a test to study for?"

"I could say the same for you"

"Alex is studying" Jake shrugged," So that means I'm studying too…."

"Keep telling yourself that" Rory smirked, turning to walk out the room. " Oh, Alex. Always a pleasure"

"The pleasure was all mines" Alex mumbles out and Rory can't help but snort as the door closes shut," Believe me, I know"

They lay there for a while, tangled in each others limbs while cigarette smoke swirls between them. Some time during all of this Jake will crawl over to Alex and rest his head on his chest, listening to the steady heartbeat that Alex has, and smiles whenever it will skip a beat or two. Alex's fingers will eventually find their way into Jake's short cropped hair and inhale his cigarette breath, making him choke because of his asmatha. Jake will laugh at him and Alex will wheeze and well, that's just the way it was between them.

All fun.

So why was Alex so tired of it?


	3. Death and Dingy Romance

**LostMoon: **I'm sorry about the short post, the first chappy is always just a teaser. I hope you like this one! 

**Bee:** No, your review isn't lame. A review is a review, I love em all the same. I told you that they would all be different, and there's just something sexy about Jake/Dylan. Alex can't help but get fucked one way or another in my stories, and I didn't mean that in the reference it sounded, even though it probably was. Jake is an asshole, that we all love. Enjoy le new chapter

**Azury: **Ello there, luv. If you like Dylan/Jake I bet you'll like the pairing in this chapter as well. Hee, I giggle because for once I'm ahead of you in my plot. But knowing you, you'll use your super master skills to find me out. Marco is totally unsure of himself, and I love it. Michael is an annoying drunk, and I'm sirt of annoyed by his character. Last story, believe it or not, my favorite characters were Andy, Michael and Rory, but this time I'm really leaning towards Jake, Alex and …well I can't say the next character. Adrian and Trent are love as usual. Yes, you guys are a dangerous addiction. Jake isn't a whore…. Wait, I'll leave that comment alone. Rory is a little different this time around….he ah….he's a very interesting person to write. When Marco finds out about Dylan and Jake will be at a dangerous moment….ja. I told you I wouldn't let you down with the new story sweetie! Luv!

**Aye, Blackrose**: I hate shitty days. They're just shitty. And they make you feel shitty. And that's just shitty. So I'm like uber happy that I could make you smile. With my story. Is Jake Alex's boyfriend? I have no clue to be honest, I guess. Maybe… Dylan still blows. A lot. And hard. And not in the good way. I had to make the My Fair Fantasy Reference, just to tie the stories back in together. Lex is just adorable to say, period. I wish I would write a book using this story too. But they'd be scared that a 13 year old could come up with this. Hope you likey this part as well, ( which you probably will)

**KirjavaTwilight: **Yeah, we have the suicidal Marco character in this story, but it can sway either way. I KNOW, lmao, I feel weird that none of my characters have mental disorders yet. Maybe I'll give Rory OCD, or Ryan ADD or something. Something with a D in it. Alex , I mean Lex is a smart boy. Yep, the reference is to Mikey and Jakey. AWWW I make it angst and slashy because this is the way people's lives should be. Well if I had control of the world it will be.

**Kami:** If you don't calm down right now missy I shall spank you! MAYBE I'LL HAVE THEM ON THE TABLE, KAMI STYLE. LMAO. Yes, I know you love me dude.

**missmiamya**: Yep, the character twist keep coming. Hope you like this chappy!

**Tru Fate:** It's okay that you can't reply as much, due to school galla or whatever. Marco is dangerously depressed, Jake/Dylan is officially hot, Adrian and Trent are love and ja, it is kinda interesting, isn't it? I'm glad you got a new keyboard, I need a new mouse. Ger, merry holidays to you as well!

**_Okay, what happens in this chapter my lovelies? Well first off Merry Christmahanakuanzaka and whatever else holiday I may be missing out on. Hey, did you ever see that virgin mobile commercial when they do the holidays and they have the gay elf? Doesn't that like freak you the fuck out? Lmao, I have virgin so I can't say anything against my own company though. Oh, I;m getting side tracked, back to the story. In this chapter we get a little Marco and Ryan time, we find out that Dylan has a few more secrets that the last chapter, and that Rory is a pervert. Enjoy, dears!_**

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**Chapter 3: Death and Dingy Romance  
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_"Dy- Dylan can you pick up the phone? Its me, Marco. I know you told me not to call you unless it was an emergency, but this is one. I- I don't feel that good, and I miss you a litt- okay, a lot….And I know ….I just want you to come home….so when you get this message can you call me back? Please? I'm- I'm having those bad memories again…."_

_Marco's hand jerks as the phone falls from his hand and he looks down at the floor, afraid of the sudden confines of his room, as if it's too small walls are ready to close in on him. His breath is choked and his eyes water as he curls up into a ball and closes his eyes shut, tight. He was afraid to open them, and therefore sat there like that in the corner the entire time until Dylan came and opened the door._

"Marco?" Ryan's voice is calm as it breaks through his thoughts. Marco's eyes flutter open and he blushes slightly," Oh, what were you saying?"

"You were telling me about your boyfriend…." Ryan was sitting on Marco's bed now, papers inside his hands with the pages flipped down at the corners. He had a pink marker behind his ears and his eyes looked moist, as if he was crying. " You said that he saved your life"

"He did" Marco's voice is deathly low. " Without him- I don't know what I would do without him, Ryan. I just don't know" He's shaking again and he knows that is the first warning, so he inhales deeply and tries to relax and concentrate. " He's just my everything, you know?"

"Yeah…."

"How so? You feel the same for your girlfriend….?"

"My boyfriend" Ryan breathes out quietly, but that's all he says. Marco eyes him before asking slowly," He- he loves you too, I would hope"

"He loved me" Ryan murmurs and when Marco looks confused he clarifies, " He's dead"

"Oh" Marco's cheeks flair quickly and Ryan simply puts a hand on his shoulder," It's okay, really. Pete….Pete was something else, I guess you could say. He was wonderful while I had him. Spectacular even. " Ryan's grip on the paper tightens and he closes his eyes for a moment. Marco timidly places a hand to Ryan's head, fingers sinking into and resting on his hair. Not enough to rake his hands through it, but more along the lines of stroke it slightly. Ryan leaned on to his shoulder and smiled a little, and Marco really is confused. He just met this person, this Ryan, and now all of a sudden he's remembering things that he knew he shouldn't and feeling….feeling relaxed. Something he hasn't felt in a long time. Marco wants to ask a lot of things. Wants to ask how did Pete die. And how did Ryan meet him to begin with. And why does he have a marker and a paper in his hand. But for now Marco will just keep silent because his stomach keeps tightening up and sending odd waves of nausea through his body.

* * *

"Literature is something that cannot be described correctly. Many say it's just for others to read, but isn't it just a little bit more than that? Have you ever looked at a book and felt an immediate connection to the characters in there, like a pulling secret need to be able to have something in common with them? Often have the urge to shout out at the book and tell the main character not to fuck up? I hardly call that just something to read. " Dylan was perched on top of his desk in the middle of lecturing a class when there's a tap at the door. " Think about that for a second" He slides off the desk and walks over to the door in quick strides, shocked to see no one other than Michael Sullivan standing at the other end of the door, eyes lowered and book bag slung over his shoulders.

"Hey, Dylan-"

"First name basis, you know the rules Michael" Dylan hisses, stepping out of the room and closing the door behind him. Michael wipes his nose and nods drearily," Sorry. I mean Professor Michaelchuck."

"What did you come here for anyway?"

"I need to take my test over, you know, to make up from the day when I was out?" Michael leans in close to add," Wicked fucking hangover sir, lasted for 3 days"

"Michael….I don't know when I could be able to…fuck" Dylan sighs for a moment and Michael bounces on the balls of his feet in anticipation. "You're failing class Michael" He says and Michael doesn't looked shocked," I don't want you to fail. So I'll assign you a tutor"

"What the fuck do I need a tutor for, Dyl-" Michael stops and corrects himself," Sir….I'm sure I could pull my grades up some how-"

"I doubt it" Dylan places his hand on his hips," I can assign you the top of my class, he'll teach you well. Then you can take the test and guarantee a passing grade. I'm looking out for you here"

"I know" Michael mutters, defeated. So Dylan takes his chin by his fingers and pulls it upwards, making a quick glance to make sure no one is looking at them, and brings his lips to his in a quick, reassuring peck. Michael's eyes vibrate with color and he smiles slightly, rubbing his thumb over his jaw before dropping his hand limply back down to his side. " Okay? Now get to class before I make you stay in detention"

"It's Uni" Michael laughs, but that doesn't stop him from running down the hall to his next class. Dylan laughs a little before going back inside his classroom and clapping his hands." Where should we start? Ah…a 4 page paper on your favorite character. Why is he special-" He stops when a red head raises her hand and makes note," Or she, if you want to take out the fact that text is indeed sexist and cannot acknowledge a woman- and what happens to the character."

* * *

Jake's eyes flutter as he feels warm lips being placed against his cheek. He moans a little, reaching out in the bed with sleet filled eyes and grabbing the person's body, pulling them down against his waist. He grinds into them slightly, making friction before kissing them on the lips soundly and yawning out," Morning love" into their soft black hair.

Incept Alex's hair isn't black, it's blonde.

And that's not Alex, that's Rory.

"Get the fuck off of me!" Jake shouts, kicking his brother who is beyond laughter, off of the bed.

"Christ, I come in here to wake you up and I get a full on sex act." Rory giggles, getting up off the floor and running his hands through his hair to put it back down.

"I thought you were Alex" Jake grumbles and Rory shakes his head," Nope, he's in the shower"

"Oh…" Jake smiles. He tries to get up but Rory pushes him back down," Always eager, Jake. Let Alex at least get clean by himself" Jake lays back down in the bed and yawns again," Shouldn't I be at Dylan's class right now?"

"Yeah" Rory gets up, shirt dragging half way onto the floor. As he rummages through a cabinet for something decent to wear Jake scratches his bare chest and decides to get up as well, sliding out of the soft and warm sheets and onto the hard tiled floor. He slips next to his brother, carefully searching through his shirts before settling on a see through white button down and the usual black pants with chained belt loops. "Do my eyeliner?" Jake asks and Rory glances at him for a moment before shrugging, taking his brother by the shoulders and leading him over to the bed again before sitting him down.

Jake buttons up his shirt half way, he can't be bothered with weather or not his chest is showing, and waits as Rory shuffles through the drawers for the perfect color eyeliner. He settles with black, a classic as always and sits besides him. " I dunno what you like about this so much" Rory rolls his eyes and uncaps the pen.

"It makes me feel pretty"

"Oh, hush" Rory scolds, taking his chin and holding him still while swirling the pen along the edges of his eye slowly, pressing down every now and then to apply pressure and make a darker mark. After a few minutes he's done and licks his fingers, wiping it over both Jake's eyes and making him cringe " You know I hate it when you do that"

"I know" Rory smiles and ruffles his hair," All done"

Jake runs his hand over his eyes and looks happy all of a sudden," Thanks, Rory"

"Yeah, whatever" Rory shrugs out. He gets up and takes Jake's spot under the covers," Wake me up when it's night, I have to do an all nighter, so I'm sleeping now"

"Yeah" Jake grabs his jacket and leaves the room, heading towards the bathroom and trying to find the knob in the dark, since no one wanted to turn on the lights yet. "Lex?" He asks, knocking.

There's no answer.

"Alex?" Jake asks a little louder and a little more panicked. Still no answer, so he turns the knob and opens the door to see the room filled with smoke and the curtains shut. He can see the outlines of Alex's body in the shower and it's pretty obvious that he just didn't hear him. A part of him wants to hop in the shower with him, but he holds back and instead calls out "Lex?" one last time.

The curtain draws back and Alex flushes as he spots Jake by the bathroom door," Yes?"

" I'll be outside waiting for you, okay?"

"Sure…." Alex trailed off, closing the curtain. He can hear the door shut and he lowers his eyes to the suds at his feet. Part of him wished Jake would hop in the shower with him.


	4. I met you when you caught me, rivulet

**What is in this chapter? Well, we have a new character, Andrew. He's a lovely little fellow. But he'll be trouble later on. Dylan balances two-- three, does he even really care about Marco?-- people at once while trying to woo Jake into getting to work with Mikey. Michael is a slag. Let's begin deary! Yes, I know the chapters as short, and I'm working on that.**

**AN: Dedicated to Autum because she makes me happy. In ways. That are. Good. And Cassandra, though she's not reading this at the moment. She already knows why, and sorry for how short it is. Still working on it  
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**Chapter 4: I met you when you caught me, rivulet**

"Andrew, meet Marco. Marco, this is my best friend Andrew" Ryan says this quickly while buttoning up his shirt . One of the buttons had popped open and Marco had shyly reached over to adjust it when Ryan looked down at him in an odd way. Needless to say, Ryan ended up buttoning the shirt himself.

Marco looks at Andrew and furrows his eyebrows. He was certainly handsome, he couldn't deny that. He loved the way his strawberry blonde hair would curl around his face and then drop limply, as if it was purposely styled that way even though he knew that his hair was all natural. He had soft brown eyes and dimples and Marco thought about telling him how beautiful he was but stopped because it seemed a little childish.

They were all piled into this crowded hallway while students were passing around campus, some having lunch and others studying for their tests. Marco had been shocked when someone had stopped and automatically pulled Ryan into a hug while they were walking together towards the outside of the campus just to talk and inhale some fresh air. Now Ryan was laughing with Andrew, and Andrew was nodding, but all the while glancing back at Marco, waiting for him to say something. " Hi…." Marco finally whispers out and Andrew smiles at him," Hello…"

"Me and Marco were just going for a walk, but it's lunch time. So ehm, would you like to come with us?" Ryan looks at Andrew, who looks at Marco and shrugs, "Only if you don't mind Marco, I don't want to impose"

"Oh…never" Marco shakes his head," I enjoy company once in a while, no offence Ryan"

"None taken" Ryan smiles and starts walking again. Andrew walks in the middle and Ryan is on the other side. " So how did you two meet to begin with anyway?" Marco finally asks and Ryan automatically starts laughing," Oh god, Andrew, you tell him"

Andrew sighs," Okay….me and Ryan have known each other for years…. I had met him when I was two and stuck in a tree."

Marco smiled," A tree?"

"I used to pretend I was batman, and would climb the trees in the park. But one day I had gotten stuck up there for a while, and loll and behold a little 10 year old Ryan comes up and asks me," Hey, are you batman?" , I had worn my batman outfit that day. So I had nodded and said 'Yeah;' and he had said, 'Good, so can I be your robin?'. I had been up in that tree for an hour now that I think about and I smiled and said, ' Sure' and he threw a rock at me from the floor. I had gotten scared and let go of the tree and fell….-"

" And come to find out he was only a foot the ground, but he still landed on his back and I ended up helping him home" Ryan smiled and Andrew shook his head," I still remember the sound he made as he fell from the tree, sounded like a girl-"

"Shut up Rye" Andrew scoffs out laughing and Marco blushed and laughs as well, because it was a funny story. He closed his eyes for a second as they made their way down the block, to a café that he had recommended to Ryan that was a little bit far off campus when he tripped over something and lost his balance. His arms automatically went out in front of him and he dreaded the impact of the ground, but it never came. He opened his eyes to see Andrew leaning over him, slightly worried. "Are you okay?" He asked, and Marco swallowed a little.

"Ye- yeah….thanks Andr-"

"Please" Andrew smiled," Call me Andy"

* * *

"I'm tired of having sex with you, Dylan" Jake panted out, one hand on the desk that he was under. Dylan snorted, half slumped inside the swivel chair behind his desk and looked at him," You've got to be kidding me" Their clothes were all over the floor, and amusingly enough, on the lamp and plant in the corner as well. Jake nodded and wiped some eyeliner from his lips; how it got there he didn't care to know. " I think that this is a loveless relationship and don't you have like a boyfriend or something….Mark, Manny….I dunno…."

"Oh, forget him" Dylan groaned out, " Don't you have a boyfriend as well?"

"Alex?" Jake laughed out," I could never date him….that slag, he's just a tad too sweet for me"

"You just called him a slag, when you're the one….heh, oh my. Never mind. The real reason I called you into my office was to talk about your student, the one I assigned for you to tutor…"

"Wait, so you didn't call me into here to have wild passionate sex?" Jake pouted out .

"No, that was a bonus" Dylan smiled," I need you to tutor this one boy….he ah, needs special attention"

"Since when do you care about failing kids ?" Jake smiles and Dylan doesn't smile back," Since I turned you into a grade A student"

"Sex is an amazing thing" Jake gets up and sits in Dylan's lap," Sure, I'll tutor him….when do I start?"

"Hello?" Someone knocks on the door and Dylan automatically shoves Jake off of his lap, " Right now"

"Give me a second, Michael" Dylan calls out, buttoning up his shirt and pulling his tie back on. Jake throws his t-shirt back on followed by his overly tight jeans, crashing into Dylan every now and then while looking for his socks. As they ran in different directions they'd kiss momentarily if they crossed paths, before finally looking decent and opening the office door. Dylan smoothed down Jake's hair with one hand behind his back as Michael came in, using the other to subtly touch his hip.

"Jake, this is Michael. You'll be tutoring him" Dylan tries and looks professional but Jake knows that Dylan had that "That was a mean blowjob" look on his face.

"Hey" Jake breathes out and Michael looks horrified. Everyone knows about Jake Sheilds. Everyone. But if the rumors are true maybe he can have a little fun with him. He nods back hi before walking towards Dylan and staring at him. Dylan gets the hint, " Jake, go outside for a second….Michael and I need to discuss something real quick"

Jake rolls his eyes, quickly spying his belt on the floor and picking it up before leaving the room and closing the doors. Michael frowns and pokes Dylan in the chest, " Who'd you have sex with?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The room reeks of it, and I know the smell of sex…." Michael circles around him and smirks," It was Jake, wasn't it?"

"Jake?" Dylan laughs and looks away quickly," Why would It have to be Jake?"

"Because he has that whole blower look on his face"

"Blower?"

"Now you know damn well there's the blower and the blowee. Jake can't be the blowee, he's too…girly. You, on the other hand, are always the blowee. Wouldn't I know?" Michael places a hand on Dylans chest and he swallows," I don't like to share, you know"

"Yes, I do know " Dylan leans down and kisses Michael on the lips. He tastes of alcohol. " I also know that I'm your teacher and that I'm not supposed to be doing this with any of you. So I think you should just enjoy it while it lasts"

Michael looks hurt so Dylan kisses him again, " You taste like beer…."

"Yep" Michael nods," Got a stash, we should drink sometime Dyl, it'll be wonderful"

"I'm sure it will be" Dylan nods out and lets go of him, " Be careful with Jake, he's trouble you know"

Michael rolls his eyes," That was the plan all along, you can't make anything easy for me can you?" . He yanks Dylan down for one quick kiss before sighing and turning around to go and catch up with Jake.

Dylan thinks maybe it was easier watching Marco destroy himself.


	5. Let’s Play The Love Game, Broken Hearts

**Ich Heisse Gott Fick, here's the next chapter. AN: A slag is a British Whore since you were wondering. Also, yhry were talking abiut Jake's rep as a man slut  
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**Chapter 5: Let's play the love game, broken hearts rule have first turn**

Alex sits on the bed, legs crossed and nose buried into a book as usual when Rory slides onto the bed next to him, and nuzzles his hair with his nose. Alex smiles faintly and breathes out before leaning onto his shoulder and exhaling quietly," Rory, how do you make me feel so good?"

"It's a gift." Rory shrugs out, reaching over and running his fingers through his hair," I know Jake may not show affection often, but he cares you know." Alex remains silent so Rory rolls his eyes and continues," He loves you, you know."

"I doubt it." Alex snorts, closing the book and turning to look at Rory with wide eyes. " How do you and Jamie do it?"

"Well….ahem, first normally we go on a date, incept sometimes we just go straight to his apartment. And then normally I just pounce on h-"

"No, I mean relationship wise…without the sex."

"Simple." Rory smiles out," It's nothing but trust, Alex. Trust is very important in all relationships. See, the problem with Jake is that he doesn't know what the hell he wants. And that's something he's going to need to figure out. However, in the mean time I really wish that you'd enjoy life instead of burying yourself inside those books all the time."

"I know." Alex pushes his glasses up a little and sighs, " But….Rory….I just, I don't know. I'm afraid that I might stick out….I only have you and Jake….if I loose you guys-"

"Which you won't." Rory interjects.

"Sometimes I feel like I've already lost Jake." Alex pouts out. He bites his lip and Rory suddenly frowns and gets up, letting Alex's head collide with the pillow. " I think what you need is a day out, you've studied long enough, don't you think?"

"Oh, I don't know Rory. There's this big test coming up and ahhe--" Alex stops as a pair of jeans smack him in the face. Rory smiles innocently and gives him a stern look," Get dressed. We're going out for lunch." Alex tries to say something but Rory holds up his hand and automatically the conversation is dropped. Alex simply rolls out of the bed and looks for a shirt to wear.

* * *

"I don't get it." Michael groans out, banging his head into the table. Jake resists the urge to snap his fingers and yell for the waiter to get a check and instead smiles reassuringly at him. " You can't get it when you continually bang your head into hard substances repeatedly. You have to take your time and relax…." He trails off when he spots someone entering the café through the back gates with their book bag strung over their shoulder.

"I am relaxed." Michael squints in the sunlight at Jake and looks away quickly because if he looks once he'll look back, and that'll turn to staring, and that's not polite. The café is hushed and quiet, but the scenery is to die for. Jake had chosen to eat in the outside part, in the back, where it was lush and mellow. Mostly business transactions were taking place, nothing more.

Jake fidgeted with the buttons on his shirt and thought about lighting up a cigarette but opted against it and instead turned his hazel gaze back to Michael. He was sort of attractive, but his personality was a real turn off. He just seemed to be another drunken slob to him. But he liked his eyes, they were hypnotizing almost; a startling shade of green he had never seen before.

"Jake!" A voice called and it's full of cheer along with dread. He turns around quickly and smiles," Hi Robert. Meet Michael."

The boy, Robert, looks at Michael quickly before turning back to Jake. " So where have you been lately, I tried calling you…."

"Around…." Jake drawls out casually," Been doing some things….big things you know, Robert. Very big things."

Michael hides his giggle behind his glass.

"What have you been up to?"

"Studying." Robert sighs, " It's amazing how you get such high grades, I can't barely keep an A plus average anymore."

Jake closes his eyes and tries to block out his stupidity for a moment before replying," That sounds….interesting"

"Oh it is…." Robert looks down awkwardly before murmuring," How's Alex?"

"He's been better….should I tell him you said hi?"

"I'd rather you not….I don't think….well, you know how he gets."

"No, tell me. How does my best friend get?"

Michael folds his arms on the table when he spots a handsome looking boy strolls into the back doors with a boy who seemed to be struggling, He recognized the boy, Alex, from Dylan's class. He was a book worm, didn't go out much. But the person who Alex was with was deadly handsome. He could just imagine getting swept into his arms. So without thinking, Michael was still a little buzzed anyway, he called out happily, " Alex! Over here!"

Alex turned to look and automatically caught Robert's eye.

"I-- I think I should go now…." Robert stuttered, tripping over the chair.

Jake helped him up and shoved him," Yeah, run."

As Robert sped off no one expected Alex, frail tiny shy Alex, to fucking speed off after him and tackle him to the floor on top of one of the tables. Michael felt someone smack him in the back of his head and he glared," Oh, what the hell was that for?"

"You ass, why'd you call him over here?" Jake seethed, watching Alex land on top of Robert. He pushed up his sun glasses and people began to stare before reaching down and trying to pull Alex off. " How come you haven't called me?" Alex cried out as Robert tried desperately not to lose his temper, " I was going to call you , baby….um…-"

"Don't you fucking 'baby' me, I haven't talked to you in 2 months!" Alex yelled out. Michael got behind Robert and pulled him while Jake grabbed Alex and pulled him back. Rory sighed a little, pulling his own sunglasses down and walking over to the table where Jake was originally sitting and picking at the food they left behind. Michael took this as his chance to talk to him and quickly let go out Robert, who stood oddly and looked at the floor mumbling apologies and slid into the chair next to Rory. " Hi…." He smiled out," Haven't we met before"  
"I doubt it." Rory mumbled, chewing Jake's chicken. He glanced at Michael under his shades and he saw his eyes flash a dark color before continuing," Jake knows you though, you're in professor Michaelchuck's class?"

"Yes." Michael nods eagerly, hair bouncing around haphazardly. This makes Rory smile as he leans over the table and whisper into his ear," I could tell. You have that type of blower persona."

Michael flushed from head to toe.

Rory simply leaned back and stuck a fork into his chicken.

"Alex, clam down." Jake tries to whisper into Alex's ear, but he's burning hot. He may have been turned on to see Alex so different, wearing jeans that actually fit his body and a lovely button down white shirt, plus the fact that he was promptly buried into his lap, but he refrained from such thoughts. Or at least he tired. Alex looked back at Jake and breathed slowly before standing up and staring at Robert. " What's your excuse?"

"There is no excuse."

"Don't do that." Alex sighs out," Don't blame yourself."

"Well, if I don't blame myself then you will!" Robert crosses his arms and Alex slaps him just because of that," Don't act like a child."

"Stop telling me what to do then."

"I tell you what to do because I know what's best."

Robert rolled his eyes," Yes mother."

"Don't get sar-" Alex starts when Jake laughs nervously and steps in between then," Robert, just tell him where you've been."

"I've been doing things….uhm…very big things." Robert stammers, repeating Jake's words from earlier. This simply makes Alex more upset," Now you're using innuendos? Great!"

"No….Le- , Alex, it's not an innuendo….Jake…Jake just said it!" Robert cries out and Alex practically yells," Everything Jake says is an innuendo! Hell, he is an innuendo without even realizing it"

"Ouch." Jake gasps. Alex turns on him and frowns, " Quiet you."

"How do you know?" Michael asks with wide eyes and Rory is now picking some chicken from his teeth," I just know things, kid. It's not that hard to figure out. You'd probably look good doing it-"

Michael swallowed," Oh, really….?"

"Yeah, really" Rory paused for a second before continuing," ….Michael, is it?"

"Michael…yes yes, Michael" Michael nods his head and Rory continues," Michael, would you like to get away from all this drama?"

"I was studying with Jake…"

"I have liquor-"

"What are we waiting for?" Michael sprung up, grabbing his jacket. Rory pulled his sun glasses all the way down and took Michael by the arm gently, he'd have some fun with him.

"I'm not arguing with you!" Robert finally yelled, throwing his hands up, " You come and talk to me when you're ready!"

"Fine, don't fucking come back for another 2 months, see if I care!" Alex shouted and with those hurtful words Robert waved good-bye to Jake and turned around, walking away with his head low. As soon as he was out of hearing range Alex breathed out," God, I fucking love him."

Jake looked at him shocked, " You've got to be kidding me."

"No…I just came here because Rory wanted me to--" Alex looked around , " Where's Rory?"

Jake turned and noticed that Michael was gone as well and grunted," Oh god…."

"What?" Alex asked, leaning on to Jake.

"That's the third time that this has happened-"

"Rory leaving?"

"No, him taking one of my students!"

* * *

" I don't think it's supposed to be pronounced like that." Andrew squinted at the menu while Marco fiddled with his thumbs nervously. They had been watching that odd display that took place on the other side of the café's back outside area, those Uni kids were just getting more and more rowdy these days. However, he did find it amusing when the blonde headed kick tackled the other one to the floor. Regardless, he was still with Andr- Andy and Ryan, trying to figure out what to order. " El steako." Ryan finally proclaimed and Andy laughed a little, " That's offensive to Spanish people, you know. They don't always say "El", they may say "La". You know, to effeminate the verb. There's also Y, Tu, and Ll, which makes the "J" sound." As Andy rambled off about Spanish Ryan caught Marco looking at him and mouthed something, mocking Andy.

Marco felt uneasy, suddenly missing Dylan very much. He hardly spent anytime with him, since he always worked late into the night with classes and such. Sometimes he wished that Dylan would quit being a teacher, but he remembered that it paid the bills for his loft as well as Dylan's; they hadn't exactly moved in together all the way yet. He remembered how he would eagerly reach out and touch his face whenever Dylan would come through his dorm door, and pull him close before kissing him. He loved the way Dylan tasted, mostly like cigarettes and vodka, or something else exotically mixed, and how his hair was always mussed and messy; different parts sticking up here and there.

It was the unevenness of Dylan's attitude that turned him on most of the time. And well, that and his body. Oh, Dylan had a amazing body. He'd just yank Marco into his arms like a rag doll and smash his lips up against his, tasting, touching, feeling every part of him. They never made it to the bed surprisingly, and normally ended up in some random corner, or club, or whatever setting Dylan had Marco in at the time. He'd pin him down with strong arms, and Marco would make his trademark gasp; feel it bubble in his fucking throat, low and deep as he would c--

"Marco?" Andrew asked with raised eyebrows, " Are you okay?"

Marco blushed as he looked down at his hands, tightened around his table cloth and the little groan that escaped his throat. He cleared his throat shyly and nodded," Um…a little sick" He murmured and he was, as he pushed back his chair and stumbled past two of the boys that were in the fight from earlier and towards the bathrooms. Andrew shot Ryan a worried look, but he simply shrugged. " I don't know what's wrong with him."

* * *

"So what do you like?" Rory whispered out, circling around Michael. Michael swallowed quickly, hands moist and rubbed them on his jeans," Anything…I guess, I mean wha-"

"Shh…." Rory said quickly and Michael shut his mouth. " Michael, why do you do this….?"

"Because it feels good." Michael snorts out, rolling his eyes," Why else?"

Rory frowned, that wasn't the answer he was hoping for. " So, if I was to kiss you, you wouldn't fight back? You wouldn't kick or scream or punch me? No biting, no crying, no bullshit? Just cut down and go to the sex?"

"Well, yeah. " Michael nods out and reaches up to grab Rory, but he easily slides away.

"Really?" Rory drawls.

"Yes…." Michael whispers out, trying to reach for him again but missing. " Look, are you going to keep fucking with me….or….fuck with me?" He trails off, confused with how he phrases his words. Rory simply takes this time to take him by his lips and mumble between kisses," A little bit of both."

Rory's eyes are a dark blue as his tongue finds it's way into Michael's mouth, quickly and smoothly. Michael blinks a little, but moans into the kiss, sliding off the edge of his bed and into his arms on the floor. The lights are turned off, when Michael had taken him to his dorm room he knew no one would be home. Trent had classes at this time and Adrian was probably drunk at the moment. Fuck them, he thought miserably, pulling Rory closer. He didn't need them.. Especially not no stupid fucking Adrian, all he needed was Rory at the moment--

He heard a buckle unclasp and his breath hitched, realizing it was his own. " Ror-" Michael began when Rory's hand snaked it's way into his pants and he closed his eyes, seething. Rory was everything he had always dreamed off, he was that Jake kid's older brother. He'd have Jake too, eventually. Prove to Dylan that he was the best fucking choice. But back to the situation at hand, as Rory began to stroke him, mouth's still suctioned together he stammered out, " Ror- 'ease le- le' me re-- return the 'avor-". Broken English was his forte during sex. But Rory just shook his head, smiling that dark smile," The pleasure is all mines…."

Michael's hips bucked into Rory's strong grasp and he closed his eyes tight again. Fuck Adrian. Fuck him over and he and Trent could go fuck themselves. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. Michael's need for release became more rapid as he lurched forwards and stifled a cry as Rory clamped his hand over his mouth soothingly.

The lights flickered on and Trent looked down at the mess on the floor. Pinched the bridge of his nose and fucking sighed," Goddamn you, Michael"

"Hey, Michael. I got you those chocolate things that you liked so much. My teacher ended class for the day, his wife is pregnant--" Adrian trailed off, walking into the room. His cheeks turned red when he saw Michael and then glanced at Rory slowly," Rory?"

"Hey, Addy" Rory smiled cheerily and waved before glancing at his hand and making a face. " Um…have a towel?".

Michael was pretty sure he should say something, but at the moment he was just wiped out. So he did the proper thing you do after having sex: passed out in a sweaty haze on the floor.

* * *

Alex watched as a boy with low cut bangs tripped past him and into the café. Jake looked at him a little wile longer before winding him into his arms and sighing aloud," Lex…I'm sleepy."

"Then why don't we go back to the dorm?"

"I don't think so." Jake snorted out. Alex wiggled a little and he breathed with his nose pressed against his neck," I feel cozy with you right here."

"That may be true, but we still have classes today." Alex doesn't mean to be a wet blanket, but he always seems to come out that way. Jake simply glares at him and lets go," Way to ruin the mood, Lex."

"Oh yeah, because snuggling inside of a chair with your best friend who just beat the shit out of his boyfriend is really romantic. Right, Jakey. Next you'll say when we go and visit Remy that that's fucking romantic as well." Alex adjusts his glasses and crosses his arms.

"Well, I do like the way that those tubes run from his arms. It's like….just imagine being pumped with all those drugs. Isn't that a junkie's dream come true right there? Wow, maybe I should have my boyfriend violently stab me was well." Jake makes it to be a joke, but Alex cringes before replying," I'd be happy to". They both let go the fact that Jake specifically said "boyfriend" stab him and that Alex replied that he'd be happy to, and instead both rise from the table.

"Fine!" Jake declares," We'll go back to our dorm then."

"Oka-"

"Quickly, now." Jake tugs on Alex's sleeves. He pulls them through the back gate and onto the side walk. When Alex frowns and asks what's the rush Jake smiles out and shrugs, " I never paid for that food."


	6. Choke Back Tears, Tell Yourself You’re

**Okay, sorry about the confusion, Bloody typos. Andy is the same age as Ryan, so please no worries. Here's the next chapter, It has a little comedy in it. Ryan and Marco talk….oddly. A few creepy incest jokes, a le kiss. Oh my god, drama!**

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**Chapter 6: Choke Back Tears, Tell Yourself You're a Diva**

Jake looks beyond flushed as he topples into Dylan's office door, not knocking and stumbling in before falling to the floor. Dylan takes this time to quickly shove Michael away from him, who he was kissing passionately against a wall, and smoothed his hair down. Michael wantonly dropped down to the floor and slid underneath Dylan's desk before Dylan goes around and bends down next to Jake's limp body. Michael, from the floor takes this time to crawl past them and out the door, turning to give Dylan a quick kiss on the lips while doing so. Once Michael is gone Dylan whispers," You know, you really have to stop entering my room like that."

Jake raises his head weakly and frowns," What if I was really dying? Do you know how long it took you to come over here and check on me? Hell, you didn't even check my pulse. You want me to die, don't you? And I brag and tell everyone about our illicit affair, well I won't be doing that anymore. When people ask me what I did last night instead of saying ,' I had a good fuck with Dylan', I'll refrain and say , ' I passed out on the floor and Alex watched me as I turn blue and went into cardiac arrest. But luckily he gave me CPR because he fucking loves me, unlike some people I know'!".

Dylan sighs, tired of Jake's sudden dramatics. When Jake realizes that he doesn't care he frowns and pulls out a cigarette," That doesn't work on you anymore, does it?"

"No." Dylan shakes his head, waving the smoke from the cigarette in Jake's hands away.

"Oh well, I just came to tell you that that kid you assigned me to, Michael? Well my brother kinda had his way with him-"

"Again?" Dylan asks, exasperated.

"Well, yeah. Don't ask me what's wrong with him, they call me a slut, but my god. Rory gets everybody he goddamn wants. It's a turn off sometimes, you know."

"Granted, he is your brother."

"Yeah, something like that." Jake pulls the cigarettes from his lips and smiles a little," So how's the family?"

"Marco's fine." Dylan walks around back to his desk and sits on it, wiping his hands across the smooth wood. He hadn't talked to Marco in a week now, and part of him missed him. The other part missed Jake, even though he was right in front of him; very hot and messy as usual, mind you. And a pinch of him missed Michael, even though he just had him twice; the desk and the couch in the corner.

"He didn't look it. Saw him yesterday, pretty little bangs bobbing as he scurried to hurl in the bathroom. May wanna check up on your boyfriend, Dylan. It's not attractive for a man to abuse his lover." Jake puffs out a ring of smoke and corrects himself," Well, it's hot….but bruises and contusions don't always turn a person on. I think Alex is allergic to it."

Dylan momentarily thinks about taking that cigarette and sticking it into Jake's neck, but refrains and instead sends him a sultry look. " I'm tired Jake, I've had a long day. I work hard and get minimal pay. I put up with your stupid fucking Unit friends and their drama. The least you could do is not come in here every day and start up all this dra-"

"Want to have a go on the table?" Jake asks and stubs out his cigarette under his foot.

Dylan loosens his tie," You read my mind."

* * *

"Who is this?" Marco whispers out, confused. The picture in his hands showed a young boy, maybe 16, with his arms wrapped around another boy, who was burring his face into his coat.

"Ugh" Ryan groaned, blushing at the picture," It's of me and Andy."

"That's Andy?" Marco squints at the picture a little, looking at his dark locks; the color reminded him of his friend's bruises in the ICU unit at the hospital, and small smile. " He looks so different."

"Well this was when we were in high school. He looked very different back then, he acted different too. But ever since Pe-…" Ryan falters out the word and re sounds it out, trying to say it without crying," Pet…Pete died, he changed a lot. Wanted to live out life to the fullest, you know?"

No, Marco doesn't know. If he knew, he wouldn't keep trying to kill himself every week. But Marco nods anyway, because Marco is a weak pitiful thing. Ryan smiles at him softly, and for some odd reason Marco thinks he can see the moon in his eyes, but the moment is lost once Ryan turns around and walks into the kitchen. " Hungry?"

Oh, Marco's never hungry. Too many germs inside of the food, it could kill him you know. Marco doesn't eat anything that he can't boil, and even then he's cautious. So Marco nods his head in a no fashion and reclines onto the couch, pulling a book from the table in the process. He feels weak and tired, but maybe that's because he hasn't had his weakly trip to the doctor yet. Maybe it's because he misses Dylan, or maybe because he's oddly attracted to several other people that he knows that he shouldn't be.

As the pot sizzles with whatever Ryan was preparing he asks over the popping sound," What are you reading?"

"No- nothing…." Marco murmurs, eyes lowered." It's ahem--, a book…."

"Called?" Ryan tries to coax him but Marco stays silent for a moment before answering , "It doesn't have a title…."

"Are you serious?" Ryan frowns, placing the fork down. He was violently poking the….object that he was sizzling inside of the pan, and came over to stand in front of Marco." If you don't want to tell me the title that's one thing…."

"It doesn't have one." Marco repeats lowly and raises the book up for Ryan to see. Upon staring at the book he makes out the tiny words on the cover, " Andrew Broke Them All" and points it out to Marco, who shakes his head," No, that's the author's name; Andrew was who he dedicated the book to."

Although they both knew that it was in the title's spot, and it actually was the title, they left it alone for the time being. Marco nosed through the book quietly, closing his eyes and sighing every now and then at the words in the book, and giggling before crying soon after. Ryan didn't seem turned off by Marco's mood swings, but he was a little bit afraid of the bacon that he was burning inside the pan at the moment.

"Shit!" He seethed as the grease popped on him, jumping back and glaring at the pan. Damn bacon. Marco jumped up automatically and rushed over to his side, going through his pockets and pulling out some gauze tape. He quickly wrapped it around Ryan's arms, shyly brushing his fingers against his chest, and pinned it. Ryan remained silent, flinching a little every now and then before Marco nodded that he was done, and moved backwards, only for Ryan to take a step forwards.

Marco breathed a little, looking up into Ryan's sweet dark brown eyes and closed his own. This is how he would die, he supposed. Even though he didn't know how he would die, or when, or why, he knew he wanted to die with Ryan looking at him the way he was now. But Ryan did a task far worse than killing Marco, oh no, far worse: He kissed him.

* * *

Michael opened his eyes slowly, letting the burn of the heat that was flushed against his skin to set in before sitting up slowly. His hands automatically shot out to rub his eyes, a violent yawn escaping his lips as he looked around dully. Where was everyone? He tried to think back to what had happened, but he only had hazy pieces. Was he drunk again? Probably, he had a good drink before he left the house, now that he thought about it. However, when he heard a yell in the next room, he knew that he had to be a bit more drunk than usual to get him into whatever trouble he was in at the moment.

"That still gives you no right to fuck him!" Adrian yells out, throwing his hand onto his hip and leering into Rory's face. Rory, on the other hand was rather calm, almost bored, as he took a sip from his drink and ran his finger around the edges. " I didn't 'fuck him'….per se" He did air quotations as he talked, shaking his head, "Jeeze, calm down Addy, you act like he's your boyfriend or something."

Adrian sighs and sits down on the stool while Trent takes this time to talk quietly," Actually, he is."

"Oh, shit." Rory looks up, blushing a little. But it quickly goes away, and he drinks from the glass before idly looking at Adrian," Nice catch."

"Rory!" Adrian breathes out tiredly and wrings his hands together in agitation," I'm not really mad at you….for doing this. It's really Michael's fault, that boy….I swear, he just doesn't know what the fuck he wants."

"He wants you." Rory rolls his eyes, dipping his finger into the cup. "It's not that hard to figure out. He's doing this because he wants attention, that and he wants to push you away before you can hurt him. It's a really old dating cliché, you know. Many boyfriends seem to do it to each other. So, you shouldn't feel that bad. Adrian, you're incredibly hot, when I dated you I was scared as hell that you'd leave me for someone else-- hell, I though you were having a few rounds with Trent every now and then."

"Awww" Trent smiled, laughing," Just as many as you have with Jake."

"Then we're even." Rory winked.

Michael laid back down on the bed, obviously the conversation that they were having was complete and utter bullshit made from his deluded drunken imagination. It just had to be. So he closed his eyes and tried to figure out what the fuck really happened when he moved in the bed and suddenly felt something. He looked down to see his pants incredibly wet, and a discarded towel on the floor.

He groaned; he was too sober for this.

* * *

"Ryan?" Marco's voice is fragile and weak as he shakes a little, moving out from Ryan's grasp. His eyes are wide with fear and he shakes his head in a no manner, back and forth," I- I - I have a boyfriend you know… -"

"So do I."

"No, Pete's dead-"

"Pete was my boyfriend. Andy is now."

Marco's heart sunk even faster. This was outrageous. Both boys that he was interested in were dating, and each other at that! He sat down by the couch and closed his eyes," What about Andy?"

"Andy is a big boy, besides, he has Brian."

"Bria-"

"Long story, better if you didn't ask." Ryan sits next to Marco and slowly looks at him, eyes squinted. " Marco…." He says the name quietly, eyes glazed," I like you, a lot….and I know this sounds a little teeny bopper-ish of me, but when was the last time you kissed Dylan exactly? Or the last time you saw him? Because every since I've been here, I haven't seen him, nor heard him yet."

How long has it been, Marco? He doesn't know. Marco just doesn't know. So he shakes his head again and gets up, tired of fucking open relationships. It seemed that everybody was sleeping with somebody and somebody's brother these days and he was sick of it. But he knew, he knew that Dylan didn't do that. Dylan only had eyes for him, Dylan loved him goddamnit; even though he never said it. He didn't have to. Marco raised out from the couch and whispered quickly, " I know…. I have to believe that Dyla- Dylan loves me, but Rye--" He pauses and Ryan likes the way "Rye" is uttered from Marco's lips.

"Yes?"

"Rye, please be here when I come back?" Marco says this with a flourish, and he quickly bolts out the door. He'd go and have a talk with Dylan right now. As the door slams shut behind Ryan he laughs a little and sits back down on the couch, grabbing the phone. " Like I'd go anywhere else." He dials in the familiar number and breathes into the phone, " Hello, can I please speak to Doctor Keister please? It's in regards of my boyfriend…."


	7. Shhh, I’m Trying To Enjoy This Now

**Well here is the next chapter, and if I tried to explain it I may end up giving something away... **

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**Chapter 7: Shhh, I'm Trying To Enjoy This Now**

Jake is a wonderful soccer player, and he loves it when after he scores the winning point at the game all of his team mates; his hot, sweaty co ed team mates, throw themselves against his body and shower him with claps on the back and a few subtle kisses while no one is looking. He loves how they hoist him onto their shoulders and show him off to the rest of the yelling his name, screaming it out. .

It's kind of like that with Dylan, incept there's no subtle kisses. Just vicious tugs at his lips. And yeah, he may get the occasional sweaty hug, but that's nothing compared to the way he just-- fucking envelopes him into his arms, smothering him really. Dylan doesn't really hoist Jake onto his shoulders, as more along the lines of desks, tables, counter tops, pool edges, store closets ( It was his birthday, you see. And he wanted a carnival cake. So Dylan brought him one, and then fucked him in the closet afterwards while the cashier didn't notice. ) and the occasional library. ( He was amazed how they pulled that one off; people didn't have the nerve to say "Shh, please be quiet, can't you see people are trying to concentrate on their work?", and if they did, like that one woman did while Jake was pitched over a long wooden desk in the back of the rows, Dylan replied snidely, " Can you be quiet? Can't you see I'm trying to concentrate on my work?", and proceeded to slap Jake on the ass for good measure). But today Jake feels different, pressed up against Dylan's chest, clutching like it's fucking Noah's Ark or something, and gasping out, eyes wide.

Dylan was very magical with his hands, his tainted little fingers; loved it-- fucking needed him to comb his hands through his hair and rank them down Jake's body, just the way he liked it. He had perfected having sex with Jake over the years. Has it been years already? When did they come to this agreement? He didn't remember. Did he remember Jake and his first kiss? Hell yes.

Dylan had been inside of his office, filing papers and grading tests when smutty looking Jake Sheilds flopped himself down into his chair and drew out a nail file. " Professor Michaelfuck" ( A pun which would later be used by Michael himself) He drawled out, filling the nail down.

"Sheilds." Dylan nodded, placing the papers down. His lip twitched at the way Jake filed his nail, flicking out his tongue every now and then, bearing down hard on his finger. Christ. " I have decided to come to your office for 1 of two reasons. Either to file my nails, and you can watch, or to make a proposition."

"I hardly call this appropriate behavior." Dylan swallows out, using his best Teacher like voice.

Jake pops his gum. How interesting," Neither is fucking little Remy into the bathroom stall."

"I-"

"Ah, he was limping yesterday when I walked him to his dorm. And plus, he had that smell on him. And you had that look."

"What look?"

"The classic 'Damn, that was a mean blowjob' look on your face."

Dylan isn't shocked. It was rather good fun yesterday, but Jake Shields was vicious. He saw how he practically ate young Alexander out every day, he had no clue what he'd do to him. He was a violent angry little boy with parents who didn't love him and a brother who was about the most fucking beautiful thing he had ever scene. Too bad he was dating Adrian, but that was another story. Jake would be so much trouble to handle, and he had finally met someone that he actually liked; Marco. So why should he do this? Again?

He bit his lips, looking at Jake chew his gum. " Well, come over here then"

And Jake did.

But today there's a knock at the door and a whimper of, " Dylan? It's me….can….are you busy?" And Dylan knows that chronic stutter because it haunts him every time he goes to sleep at night. Jake pushed his hand against the wall and frowned, " Wh- who the fuck is that?"

"Marco." Dylan sighed, glad that he had locked the door for a change.

"Christ." Jake dropped his hands from the wall and palmed his forehead," Let go of me, that just like….fucking turned me off."

"Hey, I can't help it when my boyfriend shows up looking for me. It has been like a month or something. And besides, I didn't act that way when your boyfriend dropped by." Dylan snapped, letting of and reaching for his shirt. " Just a second, Marco,"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Jake snapped back, glaring. He bent down and pulled his pants back on, scowling the whole time. As Dylan smoothed his hair down once again, buttoned up his jeans and wiped his eyes Jake sniffled a little and fixed his hair before dropping down into the chair in the corner and picking up an emergency book; if anyone was to come in during one of their encounters Jake would pull out a book and Dylan would pretend to lecture him on it.

"Come here." Dylan commanded and Jake did, angrily of course. He pulled him close and wiped his mouth with his thumb, making Jake laugh a little for whatever reason. He kissed him on the cheek softly and smoothed his hair down again before gently pushing him towards the chair, where he then grabbed the book again. Jake wiped his cheek, but as Dylan turned around he saw him place his fingers to his lip; it was quite adorable actually, and opened the door.

"Marc-" Dylan began was Marco timidly stepped forwards and embraced him quickly, burring his nose in to his neck and breathing out sadly," Oh Dylan, where have you been all this time? I missed you so, so fucking much. And I need to go to the doctor again, I- I- I don't feel well, no, I don't at all. Please, Dylan I need--" Marco looked up teary eyed to see Jake looking at him and smiled," Hi , Jakey."

Jake flinched at his name and put the book down," Hi, Marco."

Marco's soft brown eyes turned back to Dylan, who was suddenly very interested in looking at the floor. " I didn't know you were tutoring Jakey again. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything. I just wanted….well, I needed to see you. Things- things are getting hard again-"

"Shh…." Dylan whispers and he cradles Marco in the middle of the room, rocking him back and forth. Wipes his fingers across his temple reassuringly and sighs into his skin, making it hot and moist. Marco's eyes flutter and Jake turns away, disgusted. And a little sad. " I'll take you, you want to go now?"

"You were helping Jake-"

"He can wait." Dylan closes his eyes as he says this. Jake snorts a little and gets up, coming towards them, " No, I better go, I have to watch Alex, you know how he gets" . He places a small kiss on Marco's cheek and turns to walk out," Thanks for the tutoring lesson. It's been fun, professor Michaelchuck."

"Yeah, Jake." Dylan turns his attention back to Marco. He knows he'll never hear the end of it from Jake, but that's what it takes to keep him around, so he doesn't care. He pulls on his jacket and locks up behind, all the while carrying Marco with him. Once they get seated inside the car Marco smiles warmly and breathes, " I knew it….I knew you loved me." before falling asleep.

Dylan paused with the keys in the ignition. Why did he have to say it like that?

* * *

_"Lexy." Jake murmured into the crook of his neck quietly, sadly._

_Alex turned around with wide eyes and blushed slightly," Yes Jake?" They were twined into the bed, the lamp inside the corner the only show of light. The covers were pulled up tight around them, snug and perfect. Alex stared at the way Jake's mouth moved in the semi darkness; murmuring words that just seemed so beautiful when coming from his mouth._

_That's when he realized that he loved him, fucking loved Jake Shields and it broke him up._

_"I could stay here with you all day." Jake says now. Alex locks eyes with him and tries to talk, but no words come out. Did he really have to say it back, doesn't Jake already know? Surely, he must. Jake knows a lot of things. " I want to stay like this forever." And he believes it, in his heart deep down somewhere Jake does mean it and maybe one day they could stay like that forever. But, at the moment, Jake gets up and the warmth and love and every other feeling that Alex had just experienced was gone._

_"I should go and check up on Remy." Jake walks out of the room and Alex hates him._

_Hates the way he can just turn off and on his emotions. Hates the way his breath on his neck makes him swoon. He closes his eyes against the pillows and wonders why he isn't a drunk, or a suicidal something by this time in his life. He hears Remy fuss in the next room like a child, slapping Jake and screaming profanity at him, followed by Jake's calm words. He's so gentle with Remy, treats him like the brother he never had._

_Rory takes this time to walk into the room and Alex forgets that Jake actually does have a brother, and smiles at him." Jake never told you he was with child when he met you, did he?"_

_"No." Alex smiles and rolls around in the bed a little," I always wanted to be a father."_

_"Oh, you will."_

_"How do you know?"_

_"Madame Rory knows all." Rory says with a wink and climbs into the covers, filling Jake's spot. Rory smells like axe spray, and it tickles Alex's nose. He likes that. Likes his warm embrace and calm features, his witty and sarcastic words followed by slow kisses. Rory's a romantic, and well, Jake is not. That's why Alex loves them both. He just wished that Jake was as aware of it as Rory was._

"Stop daydreaming, Alexander." Jake drawls out from the bed. Alex sits up with a start, book falling from his lap and his eyes lock with Jake. " Wh- what are you doing here?"

"Prince Marcofuck is out with his boyfriend. Has to take him to the crazy bin again, or wherever the fuck he takes him." Jake purses his lips together and looks out the window in agitation. Alex shuffles in the bed a little and frowns," Someone is jealous."

Jake gets up and starts to pace around the room," Well, it's his fault. He- well he left me, to go and be wi--" He stops and stares at Alex, eyes accusing. " Stop making me think, Alex. It's not flattering on me."

"Everything is flattering on you." Alex rolls his eyes. Jake nods in agreement, this is true. " Whatever, better question: what are you still doing here?"

"Just as you said I was: Day dreaming. I do it a lot. But since you don't care about me you wouldn't know that." Alex pouts out this, and Jake snorts with laughter," You've got to be kidding. Alex, stop acting like a wounded boyfriend. Please, spare me the drama."

"Oh, you're one to talk!" Alex calls Jake out, pointing a finger at him," You're notoriously known for starting up trouble. It's tattooed on your underwear!" Alex admonishes the fact that Jake had told him to keep that a secret and that he had simply landed in the woman's department by accident. This only pisses off Jake even further. " So what? At least I'm not tagged as the shy, queer kid. Be serious Alex, you know that without me you're nothing."

Ouch. Where did that come from? It wasn't nice when Jake would vent out his frustrations with Dylan on Alex. So Alex bites his lip and stays quiet," At least I didn't hurt Remy." He says the words coldly and Alex never, ever, fucking ever, comes back with something snide to say. Especially nothing like that. If they wanted to go into the whole debate of who loved Remy more, it would have to be a tie, but for the time being Jake shakes his head a little and simply walks out of the room; throwing the casual slur of " When you've stopped being an asshole, talk to me." as he leaves.

Alex palms his face in agitation. He missed the old Jake. The post Remy Jake.

Oh, the Remy Accident.

Damn you, Remy.

Alex falls back into the pillow. How could someone he used to love so much, cause him so much pain? He mentally kicks himself when he thinks that, because he doesn't know if he's talking about Remy or Jake anymore. And where is Robert in all of this? What is wrong with him? What the hell is wrong with you, Alex? Alex doesn't know, so he continues to day dream of the better days.

_Remy slowly walks into the room with his eyes lowered to the floor and blushes when he sees Jake and Alex talking to each other inside of the dorm room. He envies the way that their eyes are cast down low, and how they'd gently touch each other every now and then. How Alex would look away before Jake would bring his chin back, and how Jake would curse and Alex would shake his head. He hated how Alex constantly fumbled with his glasses and touched Jake's cheek, like a worried wife, and how Jake would mess with his hair and touch his arm._

_When he cleared his voice they both turned towards him. Alex was the first to speak," Are you feeling better?"_

_"No." Remy's voice is cold. He strides across the room and sits on the bed. Agitatedly wipes his strawberry blonde hair from his face and tries to keep his calm. "I took m'medicine."_

_" Good." Jake says. Remy looks up with wounded eyes. He tries to say something but it doesn't work that way with Jake, because Jake will cut you off before you can speak. " Remy, I don't think you should stay with us anymore. Me and Alex have talked about it, and it's not safe--"_

_"You're trying to put me into the hospital, aren't you?"_

_"No, nothing like that!" Alex jumps at what Remy murmurs and shakes his head," Oh god, Remy. If we didn't think it was best for you, don't you think we wouldn't do it? But….you're sick. "_

_"I'm always sick, that never stopped me from staying here before. I came to stay here because I fucking trusted you guys to help me back onto my feet. Not toss me off into some loony bin-" ._

_"It was inevitable, you ungrateful little ass!" Jake stands up and Remy moves back slightly, into Alex. " We took care of you, and this is how you repay us? Every fucking day, who helped you? Who tried to calm you down when you'd have your spontaneous fits? Who made sure that who ever the fuck that you were running from didn't find you? Was it your mother and father! No, it was me and Alex. We tried to hold this off as long as possible, Remy. But it just can't be held off any longer. You need help! And I'm--…." Jake's fist collides into the bed, agitated beyond belief. Remy has tears in his eyes now, and Alex is just plain hurt by the fact at how upset Jake actually is. Jake never gets upset over anything. " I'm afraid that we can't help you-- control you anymore."_

_"Yo- you act,… act like I hurt you!" Remy breaks from Alex' gentle grasp and stands up to meet Jake, look him in the eye._

_Jake looks away, ashamed. " Haven't you?"_

_Remy looks at Alex, then. Mouth agape. Alex is devastated, and looks him straight into the eyes. " Remy, it's just for a little while."_

_Somewhere inside of Remy's head he snaps. That's what his parents told him. Told him it'd only be a little while. That everything would be okay. That they loved him. That they cared. And he ended up in that fucking prison for what seemed like forever. His eyes are wide as his breath hitches, a weak habit that he gained a while back as a child. When under great pressure, he would collapse, breath buckling into shallow gasps and sporadic eye fluttering. Blackness is closing him on him, swallowing him completely. He can feel himself sinking towards the floor. He tries and blinks back tears, but that doesn't work and now Jake and Alex are by his side, trying to calm him, trying to kiss him, trying to love him…._

_"Shhh….shit, Alex. I told you this was going to happen. That he was going to freak out and this was going to happen. God, why bother. He can't leave." Jake's sliding his arms under his waist and hoisting him up now, gently as possible. Alex follows close behind him, furious, " That's what I told you!"_

_Jake places him on the bed and runs a hand through Remy's hair._

_"You have to stop treating him like a kid" Alex scolds. Jake snorts," Stop telling me what to do. You're a control freak, you know that right? -"_

_"And you're in denial! Remy is leaving on Friday, end of discussion. I love him as much as you do, he needs help. And he's getting it" Alex wraps his arms around himself in a hug like formation. Jake merely glares, wiping the hair from Remy's face and gently patting his cheek. " Remy, open your eyes…."_

When Alex opens his eyes he spies Jake inside of the corner, fumbling with his lighter; flicking it up and down. His eyes are focused on something miscellaneous outside, maybe a tree or something . Alex nuzzles the pillow, trying to go back to sleep, but knowing that Jake is inside of the room with him is making him restless. With a small voice he asks," What are you thinking about?"

Jake's brown eyes look defeated. He smiles at Alex, dropping the lighter from his hands limply. " You."

* * *

Andrew wipes his eyes tiredly before looking at his watch. A quarter to twelve, where was Ryan? Just as he was about to give up waiting Ryan's head appeared, bobbing up the street. Apparently he was sprinting, realizing just exactly how late he was. When he came up to Andrew he breathed out a sigh of relief, leaning in to kiss him.

"You're late." Andrew mumbled against his lips. They break away and Ryan motions for Andrew to follow him, talking rapidly with odd and wild hand gestures. " I think I like Marco" He rushed out, glancing at him on an odd angle. "Before you judge me, I know the shit that I would be getting myself into. I know, you don't have to say anything. But he's so sad and weak and depressed and his boyfriend just abandons him all the time and I kissed him. And it was amazing, so amazing….it was wonderful. It was one of the best kisses I ever had, besides you and Pete of course….but you know, you know Andy, I really like him--"

"Are you done?" Andy asks, walking down the block alongside him. Ryan shakes his head but Andy still continues," Well, now you are. First of all, you're crazy. By liking Marco, let alone dating him, you'll be putting not only yourself in jeopardy again, but Marco this time as well. Second I know you like him, he's fairly attractive. And Third, I can't allow you to date him"

Ryan's eyes fall to the ground," But he went to his boyfriend to prove how much he belongs with him--"

"You told him I was dating you, didn't you?"

"Well…."

" Fucking Christ!" Andy exclaims in the middle of the street, making several people stare. He picks up his pace and Ryan sprints again to keep up," I'm sorry, he thinks we have the whole open relationship thing going on…I….I told him you were dating Brian."

"You're killing me." Andy groaned, turning on him, " Rye, you're crazy. Dating this Marco Del Rossi is going to be a murder mystery if you don't stop this now. And besides, obviously he's in love with his makeshift boyfriend."

"That's not true." Ryan bites his lip. " Lunch?"

Andrew looks at his watch and nods," Yeah, lunch. You're buying?"

"Wha-?"

"Of course you are." Andy smiles, linking arms with Ryan. " You have to tell me exactly, word for word what happened."

* * *

Jamie is sitting with Adrian and Rory inside of the kitchen today, arguing about different random things because that's what they did on days like this. Granted, they were supposed to be in class, but that was for another day. Jamie looks lovely as usual, folding his pale arms across his chest and burring his face into Rory's chest, nosing it gently and laughing. Rory jokingly makes an up and down hand motion behind Jamie's head and Adrian slaps him gently, signaling for him to cut it out.

Trent finally comes into the room, taking off his jacket and frowns," I see I'm the only one who went to class."

"Why go to class? There's always a party over here." Rory asks, smiling his trade mark smile.

"When you guys get expelled." Trent mumbles, walking out of the room again," Don't look at me to help you" . They go back to chatting automatically and Trent checks on Michael, who is still tossing and turning inside of the covers. His hands are clenched, fisting the sheets , body covered in sweat. Michael often suffered when he drank, mainly because when he slept he'd get back all the fucking things he did that day, and they would make him scream out during his sleep. Sometimes Adrian would become petrified at the noises Michael would make, and sleep next to him to try and keep him calm, but due to Michael's escapes lately Trent was pretty sure that that would stop. " Mikey…" He breathes into his ear gently, making Michael turn to the left," Michael, you're dreaming wake up."

Michael jerks up quickly, head colliding into Trent who groans and rubs at the reddening spot. " Okay, ow! That actually hurt. What a thick coconut you have" Trent bites his lip at the way he says it, but Michael just stares blankly at him, " Where's Addy?"

Michael never calls Adrian "Addy" unless he has a hang over, and a bad one at that. He'll sometimes revert to calling people their nicknames instead of their real ones. Trent smiles and decides to go fuck it; let them get into an argument. Adrian never listened to his warnings of Michael being a bad kid anyway, so why should he try now? " In the living room with Rory and Jamie".

Michael smiles and rolls out of the bed, dampened pants and all. Trudges into the living room and spots Adrian before slowly treading across the woodened floor to him. " Addy…" His eyes are lowered as he comes near him slowly, shuffling his feet slightly. His pants are slung low around his waste and his bed hair is amazingly sexy, and Adrian can't help but look him over twice -- three times, before meeting his eyes. " Addy….Adrian, I'm s--" He stops, looking up and seeing Rory, " Holy shit, Rory? What are you doing here?"

"With my boyfriend." Rory states plainly, patting Jamie's head. Jamie looks up, staring at Michael and licking his lips before finding his place back inside of Rory's shirt. Michael is a little afraid and turned on by this, and then turns to look at Adrian, whose waiting for him to finish his sentence. " I'm sorry-"

"You're not." Adrian snaps. " You're not sorry and I know you're going to do it again. So why bother? Why do I fucking bother dating you, do I get any benefits from it? No, you get the apartment, the food, the lo-" Adrian didn't say love. He didn't say Love. He did not fucking say love.

"He said love." Trent mutters and it makes him a little sad inside. He was suddenly glad that Adrian was the stupid brother.

"Location….that I give you." Adrian finishes and crosses his arms in agitation like a kid.

Yep, the stupid brother.

"I am sorry, Addy." Michael murmurs, and somehow he feels heartbroken at the fact that he's loosing his trust so quickly. So he throws himself into his arms, and clings onto him for life. " I truly am." But the look that Adrian gives him is hardly believing,


	8. Estranged Entertainment

**Isn't everyone so confused right now? Well things don't get any better, and you'll figure out why Ryan called the hospital in this chapter! **

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**Chapter 8: Estranged Entertainment**

The silence inside of the room is unbearable as Dylan holds his hand. He glances at the doctor shyly, whose bright glasses made him smile a bit. When he arrived at the doctor's office he was nervous and afraid, afraid of spilling out himself all over again. But Dylan was here, so he felt a little bit better.

"Marco, why don't you start us off?" The doctor asked, casually sipping his tea.

"Well, I think that I have a problem. Well, I know that I do now. I um, I haven't seen my boyfriend in a long time. So I got a little upset--, so see, I have this new room mate, and I had to make room for him. While I was moving things around I found all these old pictures of me and Dylan….and I got so scared. So scared that I may loose him. So I took the kitchen knife and I- I-- I started cutting myself with it. And then Ryan, he's my room mate came in, and he just told me to get the blood out with ice and bleach. I think I'm suffering from depression. And I don't want to feel this way anymore, but god--" He squeezed Dylan's hand, eyes shut now. He was trying to not let the tears fall as he whispered," I don't want to feel like this anymore, I really don't. I try so hard and be happy, but I- I can't smile. I can't fucking smile. Do you know how much of a disappointment I am to my mom? Do you know what she thinks of me? That's why she kicked me out the house in the first place. I don't want to be a failure, I want to- to feel….feel-"

"Feel what, Marco?" The doctor frowned, writing down in the paper in his lap. He shifted sadly, glancing at Dylan for a reaction, but he didn't have one. Didn't have one reaction on his face.

"Anything" The reply is so cold that Dylan lets go of his hand. Marco curls up on the couch and places his hands into his face, running them through his hair repeatedly. " I swear to god, these headaches just get worse and worse. Do you have any Aspirin, some vodka? A cigarette-"

"We don't want to encourage self destructive behavior-"

"Do you not understand that I gashed myself up with a 5 inch Kitchen knife! We're past self destructive behavior, doc. We're going straight into self mutilation. Personal infliction, self loathing, neurotic depression. I need some help, and I need some help right goddamn night. So you know what you're going to do? You're going to put me on Zoloft of whatever the fuck you can, and you're going to make me feel better about myself. This is why I pay you, is it not!"

The doctor stares at him wordlessly, and Dylan merely blinks. Mar- Marco's hot when he's angry. Dylan bites his lips and wraps an arm around his boyfriend and sighs, because why is his life like that. But can he picture Michael in this situation? Or Jake? Surely Jake would never become this low? Would he? Unless Dylan drove him there, which he wouldn't. He never….he couldn't do that again.

He looked at Marco, no, he couldn't do that again.

The doctor looked at his watch," Times up. Same times next week, huh Marco?"

"Yeah…." Marco meekly replied.

* * *

Alex shuffles unhappily through the room, biting his nails. His feet pad against the wooden floor boards, pen in between his teeth. Stupid fucking Math assignment. He had to study like hell for this test, and that was normally where Jake would come in. Jake, chain smoking, hot messy and brilliant when it came to 10 digit long numbers. " It's like sex." He had once said while Alex banged his head into the table," The bigger the number the harder it is to figure out where to put it."

But at the moment Jake wasn't here. Jake wasn't talking to Alex, and Jake was an asshole. And Alex was okay with that, he didn't need him to help him with some stupid test. He could pass without his help. Alex kept thinking that as he walked into the kitchen to see Jake face down in a bowl of cereal. At first he didn't seem alarmed, because Jake wasn't really too polite when it came to eating things that were contained within a bowl, but when he didn't move after several minutes Alex got a little worried. "Jakey?" He asked, moving closer, cautiously. He can't even remember how many times Jake had pulled that trick on him, the whole " Jake Died When he Fell Face First Into A Bowl Of Captin' Crunch Cereal Because He Drowned In The Fruity Milk" scenario. He gently poked his best friend a few times, trying to get a reaction out of him, but received nothing.

"Jake?" Alex mumbled, biting his lip. He pulled Jake's head out of the milk to see that he wasn't dead, thank god. He was just drunk. Very , very drunk. " Jake…." Alex breathed out in agitation, slapping him a little bit.

"Alexander…." He murmured, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. He pulled a little Danny Phantom shaped piece from his hair and opened his eyes fully," Shit, I fell asleep in a bowl of cereal again, didn't I? You know, I could really die from that."

Alex angrily slapped him on the head," I thought you were dead! Again!"

"You worry too much," Jake yawned and then pointed a lazy finger at him," M'not talking to you, remember?"

"I don't care. Why are you drunk?"

"I'm not-"

" I smell it on your breath."

"Oh, really?" Jake breathed into his hand and sniffed in amusement. " Oh my god, you're right. I'm like….straight wasted!"

"Do you want an award? Now tell me why are you drunk."

"Well, after that little argument we had- which I'm still pissed at by the way-, I went out towards the campus to bother Dylan, see if he's back from baby sitting Marco. Of course, he wasn't. Because I hate Marco, hate him, hate him, hate him. I hope you know that. So anyway, I was moping around, head down low, eyes misty, the works when I crash into someone else who was also moping. Three guesses who it is."

"Rory got you drunk, again?"

"Errrg" Jake made an odd buzzing sound, laughing. " Wrong."

Alex tried to think, " Robert? Did you talk to him again? Didn't I tell you to stay away from him? I god, if he got you drunk I'm going to have to- to break up with him all over again-"

"He broke up with you…." Jake murmured, so Alex hit him on the head again," Christ cut that out! It wasn't him, last guess."

" Oh hell, I give up. Who was it-"

"Mikey."

"Mikey?"

"Mikey. Michael, Michael Sullivan."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"No, s's true. I was moping and crashed into him. He got dumped apparently-"

"Rory messed him up?"

"Yeah. Adrian didn't like that. So he kicked Michael out, so Michael was depressed. And I was depressed. And we were both like, 'Hey, let's be emo together'. And then we just…were. And I finally got to tutor him. He's not as stupid as everyone thinks, you know."

Alex folded his arms on the table, wiping the milk from the strands of Jake's hair as he talked. "Oh, really? So where is he living now?"

"Um, in our bathtub."

Alex let go of his hair," What?"

"The bathtub, you know, the place where we wash ourselves. Sheesh, you act as if you're the one drunk here, Lexy."

"Get him the hell out of there!"

"Why? It's not like he'll stink up the place-"

"I don't want that asshole in the bathroom! No get him out now. I mean it, Jake-"

"Alex, Alex, Alex. Calm down-"

"No! He's the one that-"

"That what? Give me one excuse as to why he shouldn't stay with us."

"He was the one….that Robert left me for."

Jake has a priceless expression on his face as Alex goes back towards his room and shuts the door," Get him the fuck out of our bathroom."

* * *

"Today the weather is nice" Andy mumbles this as he pulls his strapped jacket closer around himself, inhaling the warm winter air, but still feeling cold. Ryan walked next to him as usual, nosing his scarf and sighing out dully. " Marco went back to the therapist today."

"Really? Then why do you seem so worried?"

"Because he was with Dylan." The anger in Ryan's voice is evident, so Andy tries not to laugh. " You need to stop being jealous."

"I am not, but doesn't he know that Dylan's nothing but a selfish jackass who thinks about himself. And he always had that Jake kid hanging around him. You know, the smutty looking one." Ryan folds his white gloved hands together, thinking and finishing off with," He could just have it so much better if he…."

"Was with you?" Andy asked, and the amusement was gone from his face. In fact, he looked rather pissed off now. "What did I tell you? What did I warn you about?"

"I know-"

"Apparently you don't. It's not even funny anymore, Rye. You need to detach yourself from him, right now."

"Why are you acting so jealous?"

"I'm not!" Andy yells and people stop and look at them, so he lowers his voice. " I'm worried about you. And Marco."

"What if I promised you that I would never let anything happen-"

"Then it'd be a lie-"

"I know what I'm doing!" Ryan yelled out, " I care-"

"What about me?" Andy looks away, the wind blowing a warm breeze through the fabrics of his jacket. He stirs a little and moves to lean up against a tree. People are jogging through the park, couples with baby strollers and old men playing checkers inside of the corner. It feels like Summer even though it's still winter, he looks just a little depressed. Ryan stares at him for a while, upset as well. He didn't expect Andy to be pulled into this….this mess. This odd triangle of love. There's a little sound of sniffling and Ryan raises his eyes to meet Andy's, if only for a minute. " Are you crying?"

Andy waves his hand. " No," His cheeks are flushed as he wipes at his eyes before pushing off from against the tree. " Do what you want, Rye. You're the one that's going to get hurt in the end. Not me."

"I want-"

"You don't know what you want. God, you want so many things, at so many different times. You want Pete, you had Pete, Pete's gone. You wanted Me, you had me, I-"

"You're sill here."

Andy cocks his head to the side, "Barely."

"Well, at any rate, I will make this work out. For all of us, some way, some how. Trust me."

"Well then, you walk your ass over to the Psychiatric ward," Andy snaps, poking Ryan in the chest," And you tell Pete that you suddenly fell in love with your room mate. How does that sound? And then when he hears that don't be surprised when he tries to break right through those goddamn bars and hurt you, hurt you like he…." Andy trials off, and Ryan gets the point.

"Are you hungry, Andrew?" Ryan whispers out quietly. Andy simply starts walking again," If you're paying? Yeah."

* * *

Michael groaned, sitting up inside of the bath tub. His back was bruised, he realized as he rubbed a very sensitive spot. The back of his throat burned, the smell of liquor reeked on his clothes, but as soon as Adrian had kicked him out it's the only thing he could think of. Get drunk and get fucked, maybe both. And well, judging by that bruise on his back, he think that he achieved an odd combination of both.. As his eyes cleared momentarily, the burryness ultimately fading back he heard someone yelling at someone else. Raising his eyebrows he leaned towards the door and listened.

"That what? Give me one excuse as to why he shouldn't stay with us."

That voice was Jake. He wasn't such a bad person after all, hell of a kisser though.

"He was the one….that Robert left me for."

Alex? Alex, yeah that was his name. Robert? No, Michael didn't have any relationship with anybody named Robert, his name was Bob….bob…

Michael was too drunk to think, so as the door slammed he climbed out of the bathtub and went into the room where Jake was sitting, wiping his eyes. He walked slowly, noticing that Jake had kicked something angrily before murmuring," I didn't mean for him to be so loud, I know you have a hang over just as bad as I do."

"Yeah…." Michael trails off," It's okay. Boyfriends are just over protective."

"Ah, but he's not my boyfriend." Jake sighs out, running his hands through his hair," He's just my….best friend, a very close best friend."

Michael pauses and looks at him. "You know, Jake? You say that a lot. And you know what? I'm starting to not believe it…."


	9. Reprimand On Demand With Subtle After E

**It's been such a bloody fucking long time since I updated I'm afraid that you guys think I have given up on the story. This not the case. I got banned from the website. So um ja, they're letting me post my stuff up apparently, so here's the much needed part 9. Warning: A lot of Angst . Ryco Tension, Jake and Dylan arguing, and some…ugh, Marco and Dylan love. Oh, and some more angst. So read to your hearts desire, I miss writing this story so much.**

**

* * *

Chapter 9: Reprimand On Demand (With Subtle After Effects)   
**

When Marco comes back into the apartment Ryan is asleep on the couch, hands folded behind his head, and features calm and relaxed. The phone lies next to him, receiver off the hook. The dull sound of the beep, beep, beep, in the background makes Marco cringe as he walks over and gently places the phone on the hook. His eyes linger over Ryan's sleeping body, and you can see his shirt rise slightly enough to show some skin around his stomach. He wants to lean down and touch it, or kiss him, or do something, but he doesn't and instead stares at him for a little while longer , letting the darkness and the silence comfort him.

"You know, you should really use that bleach…." Ryan whispers and Marco jumps back, tripping over the table, at Ryan's voice. In a flash he's got his arms wrapped around Ryan's waist, and his chest buried into his nose and he's crying and Ryan doesn't want him to cry because it wasn't supposed to fucking happen like that. But Marco isn't crying for the reasons Ryan thinks he is, and tries to say something, anything, to fix whatever the hell had just happened.

"Rye-"

"Ahe-"

"Yeah." Marco nods, and Ryan lets go of him. Marco falls limply into the couch, inhaling Ryan's scent, and placing his face into the cushion. Maybe if he presses his face against it hard enough he can silence all the pains and worries in his head; make them all go the fuck away for a while, if only a while.

Ryan puts some tea on the stove and turns back to Marco. His hands run over the counter top twice and he looks around the floor to see if he left any crumbs from when he had eaten that pizza that cost a good $7.35 this afternoon since Andy wouldn't have lunch with him today. Looks at Marco face first into the pillow and whispers," Hey, so how was the appointment? How's Dylan?"

"Fine, and fine." Marco murmurs," Extra sugar please."

"Sure." Ryan pulls the sugar from out of the cabinet and bites his lip. Marco is being stubborn. No, Marco isn't being stubborn. He's sick. Marco is sick, and it's dangerous that he's sick of a lot of things, including himself. And being sick of yourself is dangerous. " Did he give you anything to make you feel better-"

"Peppermint tea. It's under the last drawer, right corner." Marco cuts him off again. Tastes the couch and spits into it. Crosses his eyes and scratches his nose with the couch pillow's edge. Marco doesn't feel like being polite to this stranger who always seems to find something wrong as well as perfect within him.

"Yes, Marco." Ryan responds kindly. Reaches in the right corner and gets the peppermint bags. Then turns back to Marco. " I saw the kitchen knife-"

"The pot is whistling." Marco sneers.

Oh yes, the pot was whistling.

Ryan pulls the pot off of the stove and pours the hot substance into Marco's mug. Dumps a shitload of sugar into it, and throws the tea bag in there. Crosses back across the room and sits down next to Marco, holding the cup out. His fingers burn under the scolding hot liquid, but doesn't show it. After Marco takes the cup ( "Oh, fuck! This is hot, Ryan. Could've warned me. Christ!") and Ryan goes back to laying in the couch, ( "Get your ass out of my face."). Silence falls upon them again, cold and long.

The smoke from the tea curls around them, and finally Marco talks. " I went to the doctor with Dylan. Talked politely for a while. Then I left. The knife was my fault, I cleaned it with bleach-"

"I threw it out, don't worry. What about the doctor? You talked politely to him? That's wonderful. Be careful, that tea is hot. Do you want me to get you a towel or a blanket or something?" Ryan sounds like a mother as he fusses over Marco's well being, and it annoys Marco that he can't get this type of attention from Dylan.

"No."

"Okay."

"Stop it."

"What's the matter?"

"You."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. You and your fucking do good ways. Cut it out."

"I'm sorry."

"No, stop that too! Stop being nice, treat me….treat me-"

"How Dylan treats you?" Ryan's lips curl.

Marco's breath falters. Despite his wishes," Yes." Is the answer he replies with.

"Why should I give you the pleasure? Why, Marco? Tell me what happened between you going to the doctor and you being with Dylan. It's none of my business. So sorry. I'm sorry, okay? I'm not trying to take care of you."

Marco drains the tea from the cup, blows out a hot steam cloud of breath and turns his face back into the couch. He wants to say a lot of things. Say "Keep talking" and "Shut up" and "Go away" and "Please stay" and other things. But his head is hurting and those pills that he popped inside of Dylan's car while they stopped to get gas was making it hard for him to focus on one thing. So all he says is "Thank you." and closes his eyes, breath shaky.

But that's not enough for Ryan.

So Ryan puts on another pot of tea and looks out the window.

Because they both know it's going to be a long conversation.

* * *

There's a odd sent inside of the air today, a sticky smell, as Alex brings a brush through his hair in front of the mirror inside of the bathroom. Rory wanders in behind him, bare chested and yawning,. He smiles at Alex, but he can't help but look away, because technically he's pissed with Rory for bringing that heathen into the house as well. Rory blinks a little and murmurs, voice laden with sleep," Someone's not purky."

"When you bring the plague into my house, why the fuck would I?" Alex bites back. Closes his mouth and brushes his hair again, slowly. It often comforted him, brushing his hair. Reminded him of Jake's fingers and how he would run them down his scalp in those nights in which they mourned Remy the most.

Rory knows what Alex is talking about. " Oh, him. Well, you know….Robert is an idiot. And I'm pretty sure that he didn-"

"He fucking did!" Alex cried, turning around. "And you know that he did."

Rory's shoulders slumped." Okay, I did."

"So why did you fuck him?" Alex breathes slowly, squinting his eyes. He turns back around, and inside of the mirror he can see Rory snaking his way over to him and taking the brush from him. Brushes Alex's hair slowly, gently, and Alex hates that he leans into the touch. " It's not that complicated really, I had to get Michael out of the house with Adrian. They're not good together, dangerous even. And I didn't fuc-"

"I don't want to hear the details…."

"Jake is just being stupid."

"You always tell me that, but it never makes me feel any better."

"It should."

"Why?" Alex sneers, turning around to face Rory's chest. Rory was always taller than him, it and often showed when they were close together. He had to look up brushing the hair from his eyes, to frown properly. But, as usual, Rory still had the same amused look on his face that he always did, and that just pissed Alex off even further.

"Because."

Alex hates when Rory starts his one word sentence campaign. " Do I have to drag it out of you?"

"No…"

"I do, don't I?"

"Yes."

"Tell me Rory. Stop being so fucking cryptic."

"Jamie has cancer." Rory states. " That's the answer."

"How does Jamie having--" Alex stopped in mid sentence and looked up into Rory's suddenly glassy red eyes. He's still smiling, however, and brushing his hair. His voice is dry and a little high pitched as he speaks again," Told me a few weeks ago….um….so I think that I'm teaching Michael a lesson by showing him that he doesn't appreciate what he has until it's gone. Hence me doing that. You know I do everything for a reason, and Jamie thinks that it's a wonderful way to get back at Michael for what he's been doing behind Adrian's back."

"Ror-"

"Ah, no tears. Lex, you know I don't like crying, it's a waste of time." He wipes his eyes a little and smirks," And besides, he's not that bad in the bed!"

Alex looks down to the floor and bites his lip. So Rory, being the big bother that he is, pulls his chin back up from the floor and makes him look into his eyes, his sad, dark eyes. You can see all the emotions shimmering at the surface, and it makes Rory look old for a few minutes. Deathly old, and since Rory always had an odd youth about him, Alex is afraid to look at him fully. But he does, because that's what Rory wants. " Let's keep this between you and me for now. I shouldn't have told you in the first place." Alex nods dully, and Rory drops the brush onto the edge of the bathroom sink. He licks his finger and smoothes down a stray strand of unruly hair that was poking up, and pats Alex on the back.

He doesn't flinch.

Doesn't feel much of anything, actually.

For as long as he could remember, just as Rory had been Jake's brother, Jamie had been a brother to him. Jamie was the one who used to kick Rory when Rory wouldn't kick Jake for kicking Michael. Jamie was the one who crossed his eyes so far back that he had to wear glasses for an entire month just so he could get Alex to laugh while he was inside of the hospital when he had broke his leg. Jamie was the one who used to try and sing him to sleep, who introduced him to dancing with his eyes closed at midnight and to chocolate chip pinapple strawberry rocky mix ice cream.

Now Jamie was nothing but a death hazzard.

"Lex…?" Rory whispers out, and Alex has this overwhelming urge to throw up, but holds back. Stares at Rory and pitches forwards into his arms, crying his eyes out like hell. His fingers curled into his skin, and his breath was hot and moist against Rory's skin. It was like a comfort. When they were little he used to crawl into bed besides Rory and sleep on top of his chest. " I don't want him to die….no Ror-"

"He won't….shh….he's not leaving you…." Rory whispers gently, fingering the curls in Alex's hair.

And it was okay, for a while….him and Rory.

But you see, Jake was by the door looking at them, repeating Alex's words from earlier.

Alex was afraid that Jake would leave him, Jake knew this now. Hell, Alex just said it himself. And somehow that made Jake mad, so he decided that it was time to go and visit Dylan again…he'd make him feel better.

* * *

Dylan, however, is having a problem of his own. Dylan can't stop thinking about how upset Marco was, and was now looking up ways and pills to cure depression on the internet inside of his office. He wasn't taking any calls, wasn't expecting any visitors. He locked his door and threw his class papers to the corner of the room. His mind was entirely focused on Marco. Matter of fact, he was going to call him right now.

As he dialed the number he knew so well he ached for some odd reason. He couldn't understand why Marco's self destruction was bothering so much. Yes, he caused it. Yes, he was his boyfriend. Yes….he would like to believe that he loved him. But at the moment, it was almost like he needed Marco more than he needed him. And that was sad.

"Just shut the fuck up for a second, god!" A voice snaps, and Dylan recognizes it as Marco's before he returns to the phone. " Hello?"

"Hey babe-"

"No, I'm not….Ryan-….stop it!" Marco cried out suddenly, and the phone is dropped. There's some yelling in the background, and something shattering. " Shit, you broke that….god….you're cleaning it up. Yes, that is my boyfriend on the phone!"

"Marco?"

"Sorry, yes Dylan?"

"How are you feeling?"

"A little sick." Marco whispers out slowly, and he takes his time to breathe. There's a door slamming and he coughs," Had to lock myself inside of the bathroom."

"Why?"

"It's a long story."

"I'd love to hear it."

"Trust me, you don't". Marco's words are cold, so Dylan chooses a new tactic. " Hey, would you like to come to my office, and just….talk for a little while? You and me? Maybe go for lunch…."

"You mean it? I mean, it wouldn't be too much trouble?"

"Never." Dylan says and Marco feels his heart break. "I'll be over in 20 minutes." And hangs up.

After a few minutes of solitude, something Dylan thought he well deserved, the door opened. "Mar-" He stood up, rushing to the door but stopped short when he saw the short cropped black hair. " Jake? What are you doing here?"

"I don't know." Jake sighed out, plopping down onto the couch," I'm selling boy scout cookies sir, they're 3 dollars each, it's for a good cause. My professor is fucking me behind his boyfriend's back, and I have to buy a new stick of eyeliner to make myself look pretty."

"Wow, your sarcasm has reached new highs. Lovely, Jake. But this isn't the time, Marco's coming now-"

"It's always Marco this and Marco that. What about me!" Jake points a finger at himself and swings his legs over the couch. He's obviously still a little drunk, so Dylan softens his voice slightly. Jake tended to say things when he was drunk that Dylan often didn't want to hear.

"Jake…"

"Why don't you just let him kill himself?"

Dylan's eyes grew wide as Jake rambled on," It's gonna fucking happen sooner or later-"

Jake didn't finish the rest of his sentence because Dylan took that moment to slap him clear across the face.  
"Shut the fuck up!" Dylan yelled into his face," I don't know why I fucking put up with you when you get like this. Just- god, just get the fuck out of here."

"Make me." Jake whispered, crossing his arms together. He didn't cry, and Dylan hated that Jake was so stubborn that he never saw him cry before. I bet he let Alex see him cry, Dylan though sullenly. And that sent a little pang of want along with jealously through him as he hoisted Jake by the collar of his shirt and literarily dragged him to the door, due to the fact that Jake refused to move himself. " You're just mad because you did this to him!" Jake cried out, and Dylan slammed the door once he was fully out in the hall.

Jake's cold words rung in his ears for a while, and he went back to shuffling papers nervously, afraid that every time he'd see someone move pass the shades in his office. Another 30 minutes of seclusion, and there's a timid, weak knock on the door. Marco peaks his head inside of the door and smiles, making Dylan sick. Because…well, Marco's smile isn't supposed to do that to him.

At least, not anymore.

But Marco has a black eye, and Dylan is worried as he gets up from the chair and engulfs the shorter boy. " What happened?"

Marco looked away," Um, I fell into the door knob, kinda tripped, incept not. More like ran into it." He blushed, looking away from Dylan and sat on the couch," I love how you have your office now. It looks so much better since Jake helped you paint it. He's so adorable, you know. All cover in paint and giggling."

"Yeah…" Dylan trailed off, feeling used as Marco rambled on about Jake. "How is he?"

"A little too drunk." Dylan sighs out of the corner of his mouth, taking Marco's hands within his and smiling sweetly. Like he cared for him and loved him and would die for him on a seconds notice. However, that was all bullshit, and he knew it. He wish Marco knew it, but had a gut wrenching feeling that Marco was too stupid to aknowledge it. "Forget about him, do you want to go out? How about a nice resteraunt. Or maybe we can stay….stay and tal-"

Dylan doesn't finish that sentence because Marco suddenly leans forwards and pressed cold lips up againt his, timid and gentle as always. And well, Dylan hates it. Hates how Marco pulls away and whispers "I'm sorry" to what seems like a thousand times, and how Dylan pulls him back with that knowing smirk and kisses him again, harder, more passionate. Runs his hands through his hair and backs him towards the couch. The table was too primitave, Marco deserved the best. Liked the way Marco's eyes lit up when Dylan placed his hands on the buttons of his shirt and how Marco gasped, closing his eyes when Dylan placed his hands on the zipper of his jeans. Dylan knew all the things Marco liked, and knew how to use that information well.

Should he feel bad that he has Marco on a bloody string?

Marco arches up into his touch, wrapping an arm around his neck and pulling a sweaty head against his breathes out, as if he knew what he was thinking, "No."

And that's all Dylan needs before he reaches up with one arm and flicks out the office light.


	10. Sailors, Lovers Lost and Treasure Gaine

Ello there luvs, I bring to you the nect chapter in the wonderful story that we all know and love. My teachers keep telling me they want to read my work when I publish it but...ahem...I don't think they'll like this. XD Love you all! Enjoy

* * *

**Chapter 10: Sailors, Lovers Lost and Treasure Gained  
**

_"Rory…" Alex whispers out, and it's the saddest voice you could ever hear, strangled and filled with pain. Rory looked up at him wearily and tugged on Jake, who had fallen asleep on his shoulder, to sit up as well. As Jake wiped the sleet from his eyes Alex tried to say something else, but failed. And that's when they all knew. Rory got off of the couch swiftly, engulfing him into his arms and patting him on the head; aimless whispers flowing into his ear, a thousand words that meant a thousand things more than what Alex wanted to hear._

_Jake recognized that tone, that desperate ache, that odd crack inside of Alex's voice. Bit his lip inside of his sleep as well, flinching and sliding closer to Rory. He knew what Alex was going to say and didn't want to hear it, but seeing Alex being rocked back and forth by Rory made his eyes tear up, just a little bit, and his fingers curl into a fist. He would not cry, however. He couldn't. Wouldn't dare fucking shed a tear for that ungrateful child. He wouldn't let Remy get to them. Get to him._

_"He'll be back." Jake says, hands in his pocket, desperately looking for a cigarette._

_"He's not coming back." Alex voice is high pitched now, and he points a finger at Jake, scowling." And it's your fault!"_

_Rory's hand found it's way through Alex's hair and he simply opened his arms, in that knowing, brotherly way. Jake gave up on finding his cigarette and slipped into his arms, pouting and putting his chin on Rory's shoulders. Rory was silent, only his eyes shown with an odd type of remorse as Alex blinked back as many sullen tears as he could._

* * *

Trent sat down by the table cradling a magazine in one hand and a cup of tea in another. He glanced up every now and then to see Adrian in the same postion as before, hunched over his laptop, fingers brutally assaulting the keyboard. He thought that if he jammed the keys any harder he might break it. "Addy…" He trailed off after a few awkward minutes filled with harsh breathing, Adrian almost looked windswept from typing, and spoke softly," What are you writing?" 

"A 'Have You Seen This Slut?' poster, I'm going to put it about the campus."

"Miss Michael already?"

"Yes, but that's not why I'm doing it. S'because I don't know where he's at. I need to hate him within a 5 mile radius, and I know he's somewhere far outside that perimeter." Adrian scowled, " But the copy button broke, so I have to keep typing the same thing over and over again. AND IT'S PISSING ME OFF!" He says this last part rather loud and is about to strike the computer when Trent throws his magazine and intercepts his fists path.

"Hey!" He chided, " That was your birthday present from me. I'll murder you if you break it."

Adrian slumped into the chair unhappily, " Maybe I shouldn't have kicked him out. I mean, he could of like staid somewhere else for a while…wha- what is he doing now? I'm worried."

"You care too much." Trent sighed out, rolling his eyes. He sipped at his tea for a moment before shrugging out," What's the worst that could happen?" Snorts a little, stiring his fingers around the rim of his cup," Heh, him sleeping in a bathtub?"

* * *

Actually, Michael was in fact sleeping in a bath tub. Rather cozy at the moment too, especially with Jake hanging over him, legs akimbo, lips drawn tight and cigarette smoke flowing from his lips. He blinked for a few minutes, once Jake had slammed the door to the bathroom Michael was jard from his sleep. That and the bottles of shampoo from the racks on the wall were jostled and hit him in the head. Regardless, Jake is chain smoking and Michael is held transfixed by the intoxicating smell and the intricate stacks of smoke that appears from his firmly pressed together lips. "Alex still not talking to you?" He mused, rubbing his eyes.

"Ah, fuck him." Jake waved his hand, erasing the thought from his mind, " Cigarette?"

"Why thank you." Michael smiled, pulling one from Jake's skinny fingers," Don't mind if I do."

They sat there for a while, smoking and complaining. Every now and then one of them would say something crude, earning a giggle, and after a while they decided to fuck around with each other's minds just because it was the proper thing to do while smoking a cigarette.

"What the fuck is up with Dylan?" Michael asked a few minutes after Jake had accidentally lit the curtain in the bath tub on fire. He ended up turning on the dial and over flowing the whole tub, so now little plastic blue ducks were floating past Michael's feet. He kicked one idly and looked at him, eye brows raised.

Jake looked bored. "What about him?"

"I dunno."

"What about him?" Jake repeats, this time shifting on the toilet seat . He licked his lips and frowned at the rather interesting blue duck-- named Sir Elliot Of Dukedom by Alex, and kicked it against the wall, splashing water into Michael's already soaking wet face. He blew out a puff of smoke and twirled his cigarette dully," He's old."

"He's like 30."

"Exactly. What about Adrian?"

Now it was Michael's turn to look bored, so he put his cigarette between his toes - some how his shoes and socks had came off during all of this talking- and submerged his head under water, blowing bubbles for a few minutes. It was amazing how long he could hold his breath, and Jake stared, fascinated by him, if only for a few seconds, before turning his attention back to his cigarette.

When Michael came back up for air he laughed slightly. "I dated this chick who could hold her breath for a half hour, no lie. Her parents had this big fancy mansion, so we'd always hang out by her pool. So one day I pissed her off and she jumped in and after like 10 minutes I ended up calling 911 because I thought she was dead and then she like fecking comes up, not blue or anything, and asks why the hell I called 911. Unbelievable!"

"Fecking?" Jake asked, running his hands in the knee high water. He should be worried, but at the moment, he wasn't. Cigarette looked good though- so he took another drag.

"I'm not cursing anymore." Michael half shrugged, bringing his cigarette back to his lips with his toes. Jake did a double take at this, choking on his cigarette smoke that he was holding in his lungs, and laughed, " Where the hell did you learn how to do that?"

"Being bored is a wonderful thing." Michael wagged a toe at him, smiling cheekily. Jake clapped," Anything else you can do?"

"Ah, another night Jake. Don't ruin the magic."

"What magic--"

"Shh…" Michael whispered and Jake closed his mouth, listening. He heard the sound of Michael running his hands around inside of the bath tub, the sound of the hair dryer in the background and the sound of his own heartbeat. Saw the smoke curling through the air, and saw Michael smiling brightly, like this was the best moment of his life. "That's it." Michael nods to himself, and Jake gets it.

Only for a second. " Want another cigarette?"

Michael grabs a toy boat and pushes it towards Jake's foot, " Give it to the sailor."

"Aye, captain."

* * *

Marco can't breathe, Dylan makes sure of that as he hugs him as tight as he can. " I love you, love you, love you." He says it three times-- Marco likes hearing things three times, it's always the charm. So Marco nods back, tears in his eyes, biting his lips and sighs out sadly, " Love you too." 

Then Dylan shoves him out of the office and locks the door behind him. Fixes his tie and smoothes his hair down. Sits at the desk and frowns. Damnit. Damn Marco. He takes out a stack of homework and begins to work on them when the door opens again. He blinks, about to curse out Jake for picking his lock, yet again, when he realizes it isn't him.

It's Rory

"Oh god, what do you want?"

"Make my toes curl."

"Rory no--" Dylan starts out, but he's already nesseled in his lap, puring. "Will you get off of me!"

"Whhyyieee?" Rory wines out, pouting and poking him in the sides. " Are you out of shape? I can fix that? Or has Jake been doing a good job? Or is it Michael this week? Or wait…wasn't that your car crash Marco outside? You should tell him if you want to catch a bus you shouldn't jump in front of it."

"He jumped in front of it?"

"Well, yeah…"

"WHAT?"

"He's alive, christ, stop acting like you care." Rory rolls his eyes now, sighing. He hops off of Dylan's lap and sits on his desk, crossing his legs and then his arms. "He didn't get hit…kinda moved out the way at the last minute. Shame, I suppose." Rory yawned out sadly, stretching his limbs.

"Why are you here?"

"I just told Alex that Jamie has cancer, so I deicded to come over here and celebrate-" As soon as Rory said these words Dylan swept all the papers off of his desk and sprang forwards, grabbing his arms and pinning him down, tight. Rory blinked at him, eyes clear and exhausted and stiffled a cry as Dylan kissed him knowingly on the cheek and held him there for a few minutes. "You're just now telling me this?"

"M'sorry." Rory whispered out sadly. He pulled a weak smile. " Ah, you know now."

Dylan bit his lip," You're kidding me?" He released his lip from his teeth's grasp because that was something that Marco would do often, and he didn't want to act like Marco in any way what so ever. "You're drunk!"

"I am not." Rory pouts, wiggling under him.

"Are to."

"Kiss my lips, ass hole." Rory snaps, leaning forwards and kissing Dylan with a tentative swipe across the lips. He pulled back, un phased and stared at him," Do I taste like gin to you?"

"Don't you always?"

"Oh, that's not gin. That's that new fragrance by Alan Cummings called Cummings."

Dylan blinked at him, shaking his head as Rory continued," Now can you please get off of me?" Dylan obliged sadly, sliding off of him and placing a hand on his shoulder. " Why are you just now telling me?" He looks sad now, like his own best friend is dying. He couldn't give a fuck less about Jamie, however, it was Rory that he was more worried about-- they were attatached to the hip. So once Jamie did die, who would be utterly depressed?

Rory.

"Want some gin?"

"No, still gotta break the bad news…"

"Who this time?"

"Jamie."

"Wait, doesn't he know…"

"Erm, I lied. He doesn't know. He doesn't know at all, Dylan. What the hell am I supposed to do? Pop up and say 'Sweetie, you have cancer!' . It doesn't work that way. Cause I always have to be the strong one and I'm so tired…" Rory trails off, almost hysteric now and Dylan takes this time to shake him violently, " Get a hold of yourself, Rory!"

Rory shakes his head sadly," I can't, Dylan. The only person I ever loved is going to die."

Dylan looks a lot of things at this moment: Angry, Sad, Depressed but mainly Jealous. But then again, did he actually think that Rory felt something towards him other than hate, bitterness, remorse and pain? Sometimes he did, during that black, bleak period where Marco was just lust and where he actually had time to have a steady relationship. He could say that Rory corrupted him, but then wouldn't that be giving him a compliment? Dylan wasn't going to do that. What Dylan did do was blink at Rory and smile sickly, watching him weep in front of him. That was a first.

He'd savor that moment for the rest of hid life.


	11. To Make A Triangle You Need Three, Not

**Where do I start to begin and say sorry to everyone who actually loved this story and it's odd spelling errors and over exaggerated plots and subplots and my odd, obsessive compulsive manic depressive neurotic rants? I don't think I can start, because it'll end up as long as this chapter is, and I know no one wants to read all of it. All I can say is that some things went wrong and I felt stupid and awkward and confused and worried and I started panic and think that if I was to disappear off of the face of the earth and die everyone would feel better. And while pulling a Michael in Broken Paint Brushes and collapsing in a pool of blood and sorrow sounded wonderful and amazing and perfect at the time I don't think it's really helped me any since. So now I'm kinda back and kinda writing again and I really just have to thank Azury and BlackRoseOnFire because I wouldn't be here if they didn't sweet talk me back. So, without further ado, I bring to you the 11th chapter. As usual constructive criticism is welcome! And I'm sorry this chapter is so short.**

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* * *

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**Chapters 11: To Make A Triangle You Need Three, Not Ten.**

Andrew crosses his arms and leans against the small dorm room building that Ryan resides in and waits. Looks at his watch a few times, shuffles his feet from left to right, stares at a couple arguing on the campus and then back to his watch again. Life is boring. He was bored. He couldn't explain how bored he was in words; it was the basic equivalent of taking a 6 hour long test and being the first one done in a half hour, forced to watch the other students worry over bubbling in the wrong answers and what not. It's amusing for the first 10 minutes, but it wears off quickly.

He tapped his foot. Fucking Ryan.

It's all Ryan's fault that he's standing here pacing back and forth. And it's Ryan's fault because if he actually knew how to be on time this wouldn't be an issue-- he was right outside of his building, it doesn't take that long to arrive down the hall. But, alas, Ryan was slow.

But, Andrew mused, closing his eyes, that's one of the qualities about him that he loved the most.

However, while Andrew closed his eyes, someone ran into him and knocked him down, along with the other person, to the floor. Now, this may seem normal, people accidentally run into each other all the time; Andrew knows this for a fact. But, not this time. This time a shaky little voice squeaks out "Oh god, I'm so sorry" and he can't help to look up into the frightened brown eyes which were touching every part of him, apparently to make sure all limbs were in place and not scratched up.

"Marco…" Andrew trails off and he feels the urge to slap his hands away but lets it reside their for a few moments longer. Marco's touch lingers on his leg and he looks up, blinking in surprise. " And- Andy?" He sounds angry, but he's not, he's upset. "What are you doing here? Wait, that's rude….Ahem….How are you? Are you here to see….R…Ryan, is he really your boyfriend? Christ, that's rude too…fuck….shit…I..I…hi Andy." Marco runs a hand through his hair and looks to the floor.

Andrew was as he was those first sweet minutes after finishing his test. " I'm here to see Ryan, yes I am his boyfriend, no you are not being rude and hello to you too." He smiled as he said this and Marco's eyes widened, looking away and letting his shoulders droop. " Oww."

"Oww?" Andrew mimicked the painful sound Marco made and raised his eyes brows. People raised their eyebrows a lot around Marco for whatever reason, sometimes it was from amusement but mainly it was because of the sheer fact that he was a fucking mess and it was scary to talk to him; say the wrong word and he could crumble. And while Andrew would love to think that his eyebrow raise at the moment was out of concern it was more out of amusement. He was still in those sacred now 7 minutes after the test remaining left.

"Arm…hurts a tad." Marco sighs out, rubbing his arms, so Andrew reached over and lifts his sleeve up. Blinks and rolls the sleeve back down. Fast. So fast that his nails scratched Marco's arms as he did so. " I have a problem." Marco shrugged. They left it at that. He didn't want to leave it at that. But they did. And it hurt both of them more than it should of, but they'll talk that out later on.

"Do you want to go to lunch?"

"It's 9:45 at night."

"Then dinner it is."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"I have a boyfriend."

"So do I."

"Does this seem wrong?"

"Does your boyfriend treat you bad…?"

"…he treats me the best he can."

Andrew is disturbed by that thought as he grabs Marco's hand and pulls him upwards. " Then I see nothing wrong in this situation. A casual affair. Dinner, nothing more." His voice is quiet and calm, but inside he is shaking. He's shaking because he's remembering a lot of traits that Marco has that Pete had. And he wasn't about to think about Pete.

Marco looks at their hands together and smiles a little, shaking his head. "No, I suppose there's nothing wrong with that."

Andrew smiled weakly," Of course not."

* * *

By the time Alex comes back from wherever the fuck he was he saw Rory laying on the couch curled up with his head against the arm rest, eyes shut tight. His heart ached for him, but he wasn't about to get up and go other to talk to him. He was actually afraid to go near Rory. Rory was very dangerous when he was angry or upset, and since he was curled in the corner, eyes shut tight like that, Alex knew that it wasn't the time to talk to him. He would open up eventually.

He threw his book bag down, because he suddenly remembered that he had basically slept walked through all his classes, and looked at the bathroom door to see smoke curling from the top of the door…

And water leaking out of the bottom of it.

Wait.

Alex looked at his feet and sighed out a quiet curse, because his shoe was soaked as well. In fact, the whole living room was flooded. Maybe Jake had feel asleep in the bathroom again. He often feel asleep in things that were liquid: cereal bowls, bathtubs, sinks occasionally, pools and even once a fish tank. And while he didn't know what exactly caused these sudden bouts of tiredness he was becoming tired of always having to clean up after him.

So Alex, being the best friend that he is, came over and opened the door to see the damage and find out much time it would take to clean all that shit up. But when he opened the door he didn't expect to see Jake and Michael laughing with each other.

Jake, leaning against the toilet with a cigarette between his toes and Michael balancing Sir Elliot of Dukedom on his head. His Sir Elliot! Biting his lips he yelled out," What the fuck is he still doing here?"

"Smoking." Jake shrugged. " What? Did you want me to kick him out now? He's too adorable."

Michael pouted a little, getting up out of the tub and shrugged," If your boyfriend doesn't want me here…"

"He's not my boyfriend." They both drawled out at the same time, but Michael just rolled his eyes and continued to get out of the tub. "Whatever."


	12. A Boy Like Me… Likes A Boy Like Me

**Chapter 12: A Boy Like Me…. Likes A Boy Like Me**

Andy is all lazy eyes and sullen smiles when he finally realizes that Marco is talking and words are actually flowing from his mouth. He drops the fork that he was spinning around in the murky looking sauce that was splattered all over his plate -- and well, what the fuck is that anyway?-- and breathes, nodding, pretending he knows what Marco is saying. What Marco is saying is absolutely nothing, he's just rambling about Dylan and asking about Ryan and Marco's just so fucking stupid because even Andy knows that Dylan doesn't really give a fuck about him.

"Whose Pete?" Marco asks and Andy looks up, shocked. Whose Pete? What the hell kind of question is that? How is he supposed to answer it? Is he supposed to answer it? Marco's eyes are red and teary, and Andy has half a mind to reach over and stick a napkin to his face to catch the tears that threaten to fall.

"Who told you about Peter?"

"Ryan, of course. He um…he talked to me…"

"Oh." Andy sighed, clutching the fork a little tighter. Stupid fucker, he probably didn't even remember telling Marco about Pete, he probably just…blurted it out or something sporadic like that. Ryan always got a tad lethargic at the mention of Peter, close or far. "Well…um, what do you already know?"

Marco lowered his eyes. " That Ryan loved him very much."

"Loves." Andy corrected, dropping the fork fully. "Ryan's such a hopeless romantic, you know. Sometimes I forget that you don't know him that well. He's…well, both of them were bad news, Marco. Very bad. You…ah…you don't want to be around them." Of course, Andy's lying. Andy's lying because he doesn't want Marco trying to get close to Ryan for reasons that are only mentally obvious to him. That, and he doesn't think he can bare talking about Peter at the moment, because Peter is something that gives him a worse headache than Ryan does.

Marco's silent. He's probably thinking of jumping off something, Andy muses. Poor kid. He should console him. He doesn't. "Nice dinner isn't it?"

* * *

Rory doesn't bother to lock the door before he falls face down into the bed and inhales a good sniff of a rank, morning breath filled pillow. Bless Jake and his repetitive tendencies. But Jake isn't here at the moment, and it's just him, this pillow and his cell phone and a thought about Jamie that he doesn't want to get into. Maybe he should sleep. Sleeping is good. Sleeping is awesome--

But what's this? What are his fingers doing? They're dialing Jamie's number, aren't they? Curse those things! However, as he dials the number he feels lazy and thinks that maybe he should talk to Jamie because he loves Jamie and cares for Jamie and Jamie is NOT going to die. Right. Okay. Nod, Rory. Rory nods.

"Hello?" Breath on the phone.

Smile on his lips. " Hi…"

"Oh, it's you."

"You don't sound happy." Sadness?

" Wanna play a game, Rory?" Jamie asks, and Rory bites his lips. "Erm…maybe, depends, how does this work? I mean, we are over the phone and all…does that mean I get to be the d--"

"No, not that type of game." Tight lips, Rory thinks. Why is Jamie angry at him?

"Fine…eh…okay."

"How come I got a dozen pretty, pretty roses on my steps this morning saying a whole bunch of bullshit condolences about my condition?"

Rory pales. Condolences? Roses? Who…

"What about my condition? What did the doctor tell you, anyway?"

Who told….?

"Rory?"

Who the hell told…

"Rory?"

….

"RORY FUCKING SHEILDS!"

Dylan. He told. He…

"Jamie?" Rory whispers, holding the phone tightly between sweaty palms. He's pale and sick and tired now, and he sort of wishes Jake was here so he could talk to him, or Michael was here so he could cuddle with him, but they're not and he has to be strong. Strong, damnit!

"What?" Jamie snaps, exasperated.

"I think you should come to my dorm…quickly…" And he hangs up. And he buries his head into his pillow and inhales that horrible smell inside the pillow, because sometimes he wished that Jake would act more like a brother to him than an enemy.

* * *

When Alex finds Jake he's curled up on a bench in the deck outside the University smoking a cigarette and mumbling to himself about cliff notes on Oscar Wilde. He taps him on the shoulder gently, afraid that Jake might snap at him, or even bite him ( he can never be too careful around Jake) again. However, Jake just pulls down his shades and looks at him before taking the pen from his ears and writing on his skin again.

Alex sinks down besides him inside of the grass and sighs, fiddling with his notes for the day aimlessly. Time sure passes when an awkward silence settles in. He bites his lip as he spots a tiny row of ants march past his left shoe. He bets that they don't fall in love and get mixed up into stupid little love triangles.

"So, does that mean that you're talking to me?" Jake looks up at the sky, wanting to suck on a cigarette, suck on Michael's lips, suck on--

"No." He squashed a couple of ants. "I came here because your brother is suffering--"

"Well, I'm sure Rory will figure it out." Jake is curt and short, pen still swirling around his arm steadily. Alex pokes his head up and observes what Jake has written: Poetry.

"I really don't think that he will 'figure it out' this time, he _really_ needs you Jake." Alex looks up with him with soft green eyes and a tiny scowl, all pursed lips and such. He pushes a stray strand of hair out of his eyes.

Jake digs the pen deeper into his skin. "Is Michael still at the dorm?"

"I don't think so, arg, I dunno-- Jake, listen, please, listen. For once, just….please…" He pauses, confused and agitated and angry and upset. He loved Rory like a brother, but the fact of the matter is that he's not his brother. Jake is. And Rory needs Jake. Why is Jake so reluctant to help his brother? What did Rory do? "Jamie is sick!"

That got Jake's attention, "What?"

"He's really sick and you're too busy with your head up your fucking ass to acknowledge that you're not the only one hurting in the process with your-- f-f-fucking around with everybody!" Alex shakes as he talks now, curling up at his knees. He doesn't know whether he wants to run or hurt him or cry. Hopefully he can do a rather nice combination of all three.

"If you're jealous that I'm simply spending a little time with Mic--"

"This isn't about Michael, Jake! It's about you!"

"It's always about me." Jake murmurs, eyes downcast and hazy. Alex realizes that Jake is going to keep acting despondent so he gets off the ground, shaking his head and yells a very loud and angry "Fuck you!" before crossing the lawn hurriedly and disappearing into the building.

Jake looks at the brand new line that has appeared on his arm in slick blue ink, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply again: _I love the sound of you walking away._

* * *

Michael, meet Bottle. Bottle, meet Michael. Now now, you two, make nice. Why don't you make out, yeah? Okay, you go for it, Bottle. Let Michael ram his tongue down your throat and grasp your neck violently, okay? Go, Bottle, go! Let Michael drown within you.

Michael's drowning in a puddle that is an inch deep of booze on the floor when Trent comes inside of the room, not so shocked to see him curled up and withered like that. He makes a small sigh, " Oh Mikey…" and squats down to brush some of the soaking wet hair out of his face; traces tear tracks down his eye that swirl around lips and drop into the neck of the bottle. He tries to pry the bottle away from cold, sticky, clammy, wet hands. "Mine…" Michael gurgles out.

"No, Michael, give me the bottl--"

"S'my bottle, m'kay Trent, s'mine and m'gonna drink all of it. And ye….yah know why m'gonna drink all of ssshh….sss'because no one loves me, s'funny, yeah, no one loves me. I'd be better off as a rent boy living on the streeessssssssssssh sssssommeewhere." Michael yanks the bottle back, so Trent pinches his arm sharply and he yells out, dropping the bottle. "…just trip oover mysssselfff and die."

The door clicks and Adrian stands in front of him, arms folded across his chest. Trent doesn't bother to explain anything, because he doesn't need to, and he's sure Adrian doesn't want him to. "He's yours to take care of…" He trails off, holding the empty bottle.

Adrian glanced warily at a shit-faced Michael and breathed out, just like his brother did minutes ago. "Oh, Mikey."

* * *

**Aww, poor Mikey. I really don't like beating everyone up so much, (no, I really don't) but I have to get the angsty stuff out the way! 3**  



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